Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday affirmed that the recently signed Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was “entirely for defensive purposes”, and not for any aggression.

The joint defence agreement, signed on August 7 between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, aims to strengthen collective deterrence and empowers its signatory states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them.

Addressing the federal cabinet on Monday, PM Shehbaz recalled that he, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the pact in Makkah on Friday.

The prime minister stressed that the objective of the pact is to “promote peace, progress, and prosperity in the region”.

“Its purpose is definitely not that any aggression occurs. It is entirely for defensive purposes, for peace, tranquillity and progress in the region,” he affirmed.

“I believe this agreement is a source of strength not just among these three countries, but for the entire Muslim ummah,” he noted.

PM Shehbaz particularly felicitated Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar as well as Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir on the signing of the agreement.

Efforts for the joint defence pact had been underway for “many years and materialised this Friday”, the prime minister said.

He noted that while Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had already entered the “Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement” in September 2025, Islamabad and Ankara also had “arrangements for decades” between them.

PM Shehbaz recalled that the Pakistani nation and the army had been honoured to “defend the world’s holiest places” of Makkah and Madina for years along with the Saudi forces.

“Last year, with Allah’s grace, this arrangement was officially recognised so that a proper agreement was signed. Friday’s agreement is another extension of it, with a trilateral agreement signed.”

In a statement issued by the Foreign Office earlier in the day, Dar felicitated the nation on the agreement’s signing. He reiterated his comments from Sunday wherein he said the pact was defensive in nature and not directed against any country.

Dar also noted that the term of treating an attack on one of them as an attack against all three was “consistent with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter”.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement has been hailed by the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as an “important strategic step”.

Kuwait, Bahrain and Somalia are among the countries that have welcomed it. Iran’s comments also took a rather positive tone, stressing its stance of pursuing “security mechanisms based on cooperation between regional countries”.

More to follow