Aug 10, 2026 11:04 am IST

Opinion | Saudi Arabia Has Money, Missiles, And America. Why Is It Still So Scared?

Behind the latest deal between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan is a deep vulnerability that has left the Kingdom feeling unsafe

Aditi Bhaduri Aditi Bhaduri Columnist

Aditi Bhaduri Columnist

It has finally happened. After months of meetings, news conferences, bold statements, and speculation, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed a joint defence agreement in Mecca last month. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the deal, which many had been likening to an "Islamic NATO", though nowhere has the term been formalised.

The key provision in this pact is that an attack on any one of the signatories will be regarded as an attack on all. "The agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all. It further provides for the enhancement of "all aspects of defence cooperation among the three states", the joint statement said.

Unsurprisingly, the agreement comes against the backdrop of the Iran conflict, where Saudi Arabia has been one of the worst-hit nations. Turkey, a NATO member already with the bloc's second-largest standing army, has said that this new agreement does not clash with its commitments to NATO. In a post on X, the Turkish government's anti-disinformation service said, "The agreement is not in contradiction with the commitments of Turkey's existing international alliances, including those at the heart of NATO." In fact, Turkey had probably been waiting for a green signal from the US, which is why it did not sign the agreement before the NATO summit it convened in July.

By itself,........

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