Pakistan to lead ‘Islamic Nato’ for 3 years; Mecca pact members hold first meet
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan on Monday agreed to set up a secretariat in Saudi Arabia under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.According to Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry, the general secretariat will be led by Pakistan in its first phase for three years.This comes as top officials from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will gather in Istanbul on Monday for the first committee meeting under the joint defence agreement.On August 7, the three countries signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, which brought together the three Sunni Muslim-majority US allies.The pact seeks to strengthen defence cooperation and collective deterrence among the three countries, though it does not specify detailed operational or military commitments.Under the pact, an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be treated as an attack against all three. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has compared the arrangement with Nato’s Article 5, while stressing that the alliance was not directed against Iran or any other specific country.Turkey, which has Nato’s second-largest military, has said the agreement with nuclear-armed Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is open to expansion and does not seek to replace existing alliances.Egypt has been identified as a potential candidate.
