Makkah Joint Defence Agreement Explained: What Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye Signed

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement is a defence pact signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye in Makkah on Friday 7 August 2026. Official statements say an armed attack on any one of the three "shall be regarded as an attack against them all".

We read every official statement on the agreement we could find, from Pakistan's Foreign Office and Türkiye's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, plus the Prime Minister's UN speech. The full text of the agreement has not been published on any official site we checked. So this explainer sticks to what the three governments have said in public.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed on 7 August 2026

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah on 7 August 2026. The meeting was called the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence.

The joint statement, published by Pakistan's Foreign Office, says the leaders met at the invitation of King Salman. It says the agreement builds on the three countries' "longstanding defence cooperation". Pakistan's Foreign Office also calls it the Makkah Accord.

What the official texts say the agreement commits to

The official texts list two commitments. Any armed attack on one of the three countries is treated as an attack on all of them. And the three will enhance "all aspects of defence cooperation". Pakistan says the pact is defensive and aimed at no country.

The joint statement says the agreement "is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression". Deterrence means making an attack look too costly to try. The statement does not list what each country must do if an attack happens.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar issued a message to the nation the same day. He said the accord "is defensive in nature" and "is not directed against any country". He linked the attack-on-one clause to Article 51 of the UN Charter, which allows individual and collective self-defence.

Some questions stay open because the text is not public. The statements we read do not say how a decision to help would be taken, how long the agreement lasts, or whether Parliament must approve it. Our earlier report on the joint defence bodies flagged the same gaps in August.

The three countries have started building the agreement's structures

A Strategic Political and Defence Committee met for the first time in Istanbul on 31 August 2026. It agreed to set up a Secretariat in Saudi Arabia, headed first by a Secretary General from Pakistan for three years. Committees and working groups are also being formed.

Pakistan's Foreign Office said Pakistan would send Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Chief of Defence Forces. Türkiye's Ministry of Foreign Affairs published the joint statement after the meeting. It says the three will work on "defence industry cooperation, joint technology development and production".

The steps so far, in date order:

1. 7 August 2026: the agreement is signed in Makkah.
2. 31 August 2026: first Strategic Political and Defence Committee meeting in Istanbul.
3. Same meeting: Secretariat agreed for Saudi Arabia, with a Pakistani Secretary General for three years.
4. Late September 2026: the three foreign ministers review progress on the Secretariat, committees and working groups in New York.
5. Same meeting: plans discussed for an urgent meeting of the three chiefs of staff.

No official statement we read names the Secretary General or gives a start date for the Secretariat.

Pakistan's recent statements on Makkah and Saudi Arabia

In September, Pakistan condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including on Makkah. At the UN on 25 September, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called any threat to the holy mosques of Makkah and Madinah "a red line that must never be crossed".

The Houthis are an armed group in Yemen. On 8 September, Pakistan's Foreign Office condemned their attacks on Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran in Saudi Arabia. It said Pakistan supports the Kingdom's right "to take all necessary measures to defend its territory".

The three foreign ministers then met under the agreement on the margins of the UN General Assembly. They condemned "the heinous attacks targeting the Holy City of Makkah". They also discussed plans for an urgent meeting of the three chiefs of staff "to explore ways to assist the Kingdom" under the agreement. The statement does not say what help is planned.

In his UN speech, the Prime Minister described the alliance this way: "This Alliance is not directed against any country. It is a collective commitment for defence, stability and peace in the region." Pakistan's wider ties with the Kingdom also include the new visa waiver for official passports and the $10 billion a Saudi group has earmarked for Pakistan.

The Prime Minister's red line remark came in his speech to the UN; the main points are in PM Shehbaz Sharif's UN General Assembly speech, 9 key points.

Common questions

What is the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement?

A defence pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, signed in Makkah on 7 August 2026.

Does the agreement mean an attack on Saudi Arabia is an attack on Pakistan?

Official statements say an armed attack on any one of the three "shall be regarded as an attack against them all".

Is the full text of the Makkah agreement public?

No. We found only official summaries, not the signed text, on the government sites we checked.

Who heads the Makkah agreement Secretariat?

A Secretary General from Pakistan will head it first, for three years. No name has been announced.

Is the agreement against India or any other country?

Pakistan's Foreign Office and the Prime Minister both say it is not directed against any country.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 1 October 2026. The signing details and core clause are from the joint statement on Pakistan's Foreign Office site, along with Ishaq Dar's message, the Istanbul curtain raiser, the Houthi statements and the New York meeting. The Secretariat details are from the 31 August joint statement on Türkiye's foreign ministry site. The red line quote is from the Prime Minister's statement text on the UN General Debate website. We could not find the signed agreement itself, so we do not describe any clause the governments have not stated.