Saudi-Pakistan-Turkiye pact: A new shield or strategic signal?

Islamabad, Pakistan – Three folders – two in green and one in crimson red – changed hands beneath a portrait of Saudi King Salman at al-Safa Palace in Mecca on Friday.Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkiye’s president, and Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, held them up for the cameras, the ink still fresh on the pages inside.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4What could the Mecca defence pact mean for the US role in the Middle East?list 2 of 4Will Pakistan-Saudi-Turkiye alliance actually create a new regional order?list 3 of 4Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan sign joint defence agreement: What’s in it?list 4 of 4Saudi ⁠Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye sign defence deal amid regional turmoilend of listThe signatures of the three leaders had just bound Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan to the “Makkah Joint Defence Agreement”, which treats an attack on any one of the countries as an attack on all three.The mutual defence pact, which does not name a specific threat, was signed more than five months into the United States-Israel war on Iran, a conflict that has pulled missile and drone fire onto Gulf oil exporters, including Saudi ...