IN a move that could reshape the strategic balance of power in the Middle East, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye have signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, a landmark security pact that commits the three nations to collective defence against external aggression. The agreement, signed in the holy city of Makkah by PM Shehbaz Sharif, Prince bin Salman and Tayyip Erdoğan, is more than a military arrangement — it is a geopolitical statement that signals the emergence of a new strategic axis in the Muslim world. At its core, the agreement stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack against all, establishing an unprecedented trilateral security framework among three of the Islamic world’s most influential powers.

While collective defence agreements are not uncommon in global politics, this is the first time Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye have........

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