By: Ammar Nainar
On August 7, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey concluded a joint defense agreement in Mecca, under which an “armed attack” on one would be considered an attack on all. The agreement also calls for enhancing “all aspects of defense cooperation.” The Mecca Agreement follows a similar Saudi-Pakistan mutual defense agreement concluded in September 2025. Even if these are not invoked in crises, they still enable the three countries to intensify ongoing exchanges in military diplomacy, maritime security, and defense industrial cooperation. While intended to increase security against a variety of contingencies – notably involving Iran – the concern in India is that the Mecca Agreement might incentivize Pakistan to act more aggressively against India. During Operation Sindoor in 2025, Pakistan received military support from Turkey and China. For its part, India has steadily consolidated defense ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Israel, and select Mediterranean partners.
India’s defense planners have seen these developments before. In 1954, during the Cold War, the United States facilitated a bilateral Turkey-Pakistan defense agreement as a prelude to the Central Treaty Organization (then known as Baghdad pact) which also brought in the United Kingdom, Iraq, and Iran for Middle East security. In the mid-1960s, Pakistan began training the Royal Saudi Air Force and in 1967, formalized a defense agreement to exchange military personnel. After the 1971 war with India, Pakistan looked to the Arab world for financial assistance and solidarity.
The Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan consolidated Saudi-Pakistan military and intelligence ties. In 1982, the two countries signed a protocol for a “Saudi-Pakistan Armed Forces Organization.” 20,000 Pakistani troops were deployed in training and operational roles, and another 11,000 were added during the 1991 Gulf war to protect their borders and holy sites. However, differences emerged in April 2015, when Pakistan declined to join the military intervention against the Houthis in Yemen.
The trilateral partnership with Turkey took shape via the Saudi-led Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC). In December 2015, both Pakistan and Turkey joined IMCTC, later commanded by former Pakistani army chief Raheel Sharif. In August 2023, the three countries launched a Trilateral Defense Collaboration platform. The agreement solidifies trends India has watched since the Cold War — the role of Pakistan in Gulf security, Islamic solidarity, and growing military assistance.
India will see the agreement’s effects across several areas beginning with military diplomacy and maritime security. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia already operate together under the Combined Maritime Task Force-150, conducting maritime security operations near the Gulf of Oman. Pakistan assumed command from Saudi Arabia in 2026 and Riyadh since then, is creating a coalition to protect Red Sea shipping. In military diplomacy, Pakistan conducts regular bilateral army, navy and air force exercises with Saudi Arabia and Turkey respectively. And each have joined one another’s multinational exercises — Pakistan’s AMAN (maritime), Turkey’s Anatolian Eagle (air), and Saudi Arabia’s North Thunder (land) — and hold frequent staff talks and defense dialogues too.
Defense industrial cooperation is another area where momentum is accruing bilaterally. Turkey has upgraded Pakistan’s combat jets, supplied electronic warfare suites, built logistics vessels, modernized its submarines, and sold it armed drones. This is now evolving into co-production: Turkey has transferred design rights to Pakistan for corvettes; Baykar has opened an office at Pakistan’s National Aerospace Science and Technology Park; and Turkish Aerospace Industries and Pakistan’s NESCOM are jointly producing components for Anka drones. The Saudi-Turkey roster is growing similarly with Riyadh’s acquisition of Baykar drones in 2023, and other co-production contracts for drone munitions, armored vehicles and optical sensors in Saudi Arabia. During Operation Sindoor in May 2025, Turkey provided unmanned combat aerial vehicles and docked a Turkish corvette (TCG Buyukada) in Karachi just before the outbreak of hostilities.
In the long run, India will continue to deepen defense cooperation with a select group of West Asian and Mediterranean countries in partial response to developments such as the Mecca Agreement. The UAE is key to this. India and the UAE have announced a strategic framework for defense industrial collaboration in May 2026. This can inject capital into India’s burgeoning defense industry and open export opportunities in munitions, artillery and surface to air missiles. India is also likely to strengthen operational coordination through joint naval patrols and advanced exercises. Additionally, India is likely to expand defense industrial collaboration with Israel, Armenia, Cyprus, and Italy particularly on shipbuilding, unmanned aerial vehicles, and emerging technologies too. Greece remains an important partner for military exercises and a bridge to the NATO-related bodies. The changing security architecture in the wider Middle East will naturally lead to India accelerating the implementation of existing bilateral initiatives and strengthening its own military preparedness.
Ammar Nainar is a Program Coordinator and Junior Fellow for the Foreign Policy & Security program at ORF America.