Oct 21, 2026 12:59 pm IST

Opinion | Why The Saudi-Pak-Turkey Defence Pact May Actually Be An 'Intel' Network

Rather than a NATO-like construct, the Mecca pact may evolve to become something like the West's Five Eyes alliance.

Kabir Taneja Kabir Taneja Columnist

Kabir Taneja Columnist

The crisis in the Middle East, now running in its eighth month, is widely seen as a conflict stuck between a 'hot' and a 'cold' war. Targeted and controlled military exchanges continue in gray areas, specifically in and around the now-contested Strait of Hormuz; however, the recent flare-up between the Yemen-based Houthis (also known as Ansarullah) and Saudi Arabia has opened a new front in the region's ongoing troubles.

Since February, when US and Israeli strikes against Iran pushed the Middle East towards a region-wide disruption, Riyadh spent the early part of the conflict keeping its distance as the US, Israel, and Iran exchanged missiles and other Gulf states faced the brunt of Tehran's response. Today, the Houthis have managed to shut down Riyadh's main international airport using missiles and drones, forcing the postponement of the Kingdom's flagship 'Davos in the desert' event and making Saudi Arabia look vulnerable and toothless.

Enter the Mecca Agreement, a security pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, signed on August 7 this year, with language suggesting a NATO-like alliance between the three states. The agreement, a symptom of a collapsing US security order in the region, was an inevitability. The Saudis had started preparing much earlier. The China-facilitated diplomatic normalisation with Iran in 2023 was a construct meant to distance the Kingdom from any US or Israeli war against Iran. However, this was a challenging endeavour, as US bases in Saudi Arabia were also targeted by Iran in response to American air strikes and the decapitation of the Islamic Republic's civilian and military........

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