Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan have created a new formula for collective defence. Their agreement, signed in Mecca on 7 August 2026, states that an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack on all of them. The declared goals are collective deterrence, defence cooperation and regional security.
The more interesting story is the architecture behind the signature. Saudi Arabia contributes financial weight, military spending and strategic importance in the Gulf. Türkiye adds a substantial defence industry and regional reach. Pakistan brings military scale, nuclear status and a long-standing relationship with Riyadh.
The Burke Index shows that these capabilities do not sit on an equal base. Saudi Arabia’s military sovereignty is assessed at 78.6/100, with a cumulative score of 501.9/700. Türkiye’s stands at 69.0/100, with a total of 499.6/700. Pakistan’s military sovereignty is 68.9/100, while its cumulative score is 383/700.
This is sovereignty through interdependence: each country seeks greater room for manoeuvre by linking its security to the other two. But the same interdependence creates the pact’s central uncertainty.
Publicly available material does not confirm a unified command, permanent joint forces, automatic intervention, or a detailed activation procedure. The agreement therefore looks less like a completed military alliance than a framework for coordination and deterrence.
The first public test came on 9 August, when reports described Houthi strikes on Saudi energy infrastructure. No publicly recorded Turkish or Pakistani military response followed. That is not enough to declare the pact ineffective. It does show where the real question lies: not in the phrase “attack on one, attack on all”, but in the undefined space between political commitment and operational response.
Full ranking: https://ibi.institute/index/2025
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