‘Shouldn’t be an exclusive club’: Pakistan defence minister bats for NATO-like Islamic alliance after Saudi pact

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has advocated for the formation of a military alliance similar to NATO consisting of Islamic countries, following the signing of a defence pact with Turkey and Saudi Arabia in Mecca. During an interview on Geo News, Asif stated that the doors of this proposed alliance should not be closed to other countries, emphasizing that it should not be an exclusive club.

He urged Muslim nations to put aside their differences and bilateral disputes to stand together, much like the members of NATO. This call for unity came on the same day Pakistan signed the defence pact with Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which pledges that an armed attack against any one of the three signatories will be considered an attack against all three.

The pact, known as the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, was signed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. They committed to collective deterrence against any act of aggression and to working together on shared development of defensive capabilities, military exercises, and personnel training.

However, the specifics of the agreement and its extent of binding each country to defend the others remain unclear. Turkish officials have emphasized that the pact is purely defensive and does not override any of the countries' existing arrangements with other states. Analysts suggest that the war in Iran has made Saudi Arabia reconsider its reliance on the US for security, prompting the kingdom to seek layered security measures.