Bangladesh has not yet taken a firm decision to join the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, but its government is publicly advertising its interest nevertheless.

“If there is a security arrangement among Islamic nations in [West Asia], it is not unusual for us to consider participating. It is being viewed positively,” said Humayun Kabir, Bangladesh’s state minister for foreign affairs. The pact’s members, Kabir added, were keen on Bangladesh’s participation. A foreign ministry source subsequently confirmed that Saudi Arabia had invited Prime Minister Tarique Rehman to Riyadh.

The agreement, signed in Makkah on 7 August by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, treats an armed attack against one member as an attack against all. Its architects see it as consistent with the UN Charter. Yet any arrangement combining Saudi financial influence, Turkey’s military-industrial capacity and Pakistan’s armed and nuclear status is more than an exercise in Muslim solidarity.

Dhaka’s apparent enthusiasm is best understood as the product of three overlapping calculations: domestic politics, deteriorating confidence in its regional security environment and a desire to extract greater value from the Muslim world.

The domestic attraction is straightforward. Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest Muslim-majority countries. Association with an alliance formed in Makkah and led by three influential Muslim states is politically marketable, particularly for a government whose support base is more receptive than its predecessors to closer relations with Pakistan and the Gulf.

The Rahman government can also present an invitation as evidence that Bangladesh has acquired international standing. Kabir’s emphasis on foreign leaders seeking the prime minister’s participation is revealing. Membership is being discussed not only as a security instrument but as recognition: Bangladesh would be entering the room as a substantial Muslim power rather than waiting at the door as a recipient of aid or exporter of labour.

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This need not amount to ideological foreign policy. Saudi Arabia was Bangladesh’s largest source of remittances........

© National Herald