Pakistan Mecca Pact for collective deterrence without regional ambitions

The Pakistan Army said on Wednesday that the trilateral Mecca defense pact between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is aimed at "collective deterrence" and has no "regional ambitions."

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"This pact formalizes the decades-long relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and our friendly country, Turkey, in the realm of collective deterrence and defense of the three countries," Army spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in an interview with Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya.

When asked whether the pact signed in Mecca last month was primarily a defense cooperation or the beginning of a broader strategic alliance, Chaudhry insisted that it was "defensive, as the name suggests."

The pact stipulates that an attack on one member state will be considered an attack on all members.

The alliance's inaugural meeting was held in Istanbul on August 31, where it was decided that Pakistan would head the alliance's secretariat for an initial period of three years.

"It's defensive in nature. There's no aggressive element. There are no regional ambitions. It's collective deterrence," he said, adding that the agreement is also "complementary."

"So, this mutual defense treaty is complementary in nature. It does not compete with other relationships that these countries have," he said, adding that the three allies have independent relationships with other countries, blocs, and alliances

Responding to a question on how Pakistan would react if one of the countries in the alliance was attacked, he said that the technicalities of implementing the defense commitments were never made public in any discussions.

"You know, there are many other agreements that are defensive and binding. However, no country has publicly shared their operational details," Chaudhry said.

"The decision, knowledge, and implementation are entirely within the domain of the three countries," he stressed.

He also clarified whether the alliance “complements or competes” with Pakistan’s decades-long relationship with China.

"We need to understand that the Pakistan-Saudi and Pakistan-Turkey relations didn't just emerge out of nowhere. China understands that, and the world at large understands how historic these relations are. We're simply formalizing them," he said.