Mecca defence accord underscores West Asia’s shifting geopolitical sands
The agreement between Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia could make Iran and Israel deeply uncomfortable.
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(From left) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Aug 7.
PHOTO: AFP
Just when you thought that talk of an Asian NATO in East Asia – long cherished by Japan – had died out, come developments that have echoes of that all-too-familiar security grouping potentially showing up in the continent’s westernmost parts.
The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, inked on Aug 7, brings together three Sunni Muslim powers – wealthy energy giant Saudi Arabia, Turkey with a respectable military-industrial base, and Pakistan, the only Muslim nation to have nuclear weapons and one that has a battle-tested military.
