The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement (MJDA), also known as the "Mecca Pact," is a trilateral defence pact signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. It was signed into force on August 7, 2026, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The agreement's creation was prompted by heightened regional instability, particularly the 2026 Iran war and renewed hostilities in the Houthi–Saudi Arabian conflict, which led the signatories to seek collective deterrence and security diversification.
The MJDA builds upon the earlier Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA), a bilateral collective-defence commitment signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on September 17, 2025, which formalized decades of military cooperation. The core mechanism of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement is its collective defence clause, which stipulates that "any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all". This provision is similar to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against aggression. The pact also provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defence cooperation, including joint projects in the defence industry and greater coordination between the armed forces.
The agreement connects the financial resources of Saudi Arabia, the advanced conventional military and drone technologies of Turkey, and the military manpower and latent nuclear deterrence capabilities of Pakistan into a transregional security framework linking the Gulf, Anatolia, and South Asia. The pact is considered a strategic hedging tool for the three middle powers, allowing them to diversify security partnerships amid uncertainty regarding traditional external security guarantees. India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has stated that it is closely examining the pact's implications for India's national security and regional stability. The agreement has not been amended or replaced since its signing, but it is open to other countries joining.