Big, bold and important first step’: Trump welcomes defence pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye
President of the United States Donald Trump, in a message released on Sunday, has expressed satisfaction over the recently signed defense deal between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan.
“Very happy to see that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan have recently, and finally, signed the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement,” he tweeted on Truth Social.
“It indicates how the Middle East is coming together, and how nations will eventually be able to defend themselves in a serious manner,” he stated, saying that it was a “BIG, BOLD, IMPORTANT FIRST STEP”.
Responding to comments made by President Trump, PM Shehbaz Sharif appreciated his “kind words of support” on the signing of the agreement.
“Together, along with the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Republic of Turkiye, Pakistan will always work constructively for the defence of not only our countries but the whole region,” he said.
In what seems to be a reference to the past military conflict with India, PM Shehbaz Sharif also expressed his appreciation of Trump for his “courageous and decisive leadership” which has averted “a nuclear disaster in South Asia saving millions of lives.”
“Peace is the most important prerequisite for the bright future of our peoples,” he said.
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This agreement signed on August 7 is being signed in the context of the US-Iran war which has now brought violence into the region through Houthi rebels’ attacks.
This agreement for joint defense seeks to increase deterrence collectively and enables the signatories to consider any attack on one of the members as an attack on all the signatories.
According to a statement from the defense ministry of Turkiye, Pakistan, Turkiye, and Saudi Arabia will establish both political and military machinery through this agreement and will also increase their cooperation in the defence industry sector through this alliance.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as well as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar have clearly stated that the nature of this agreement is defensive and it can be open to any other country in the region which wants to respect its basic principles.
Almost immediately after the signing of the document, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan noted that Turkiye expected Egypt to join the deal “in the next stage”, adding in his conversation with the Anadolu state news agency that only “a few technical issues” prevent this. However, there have been no official reactions from Egypt regarding both the deal and the words of Fidan.
Afterwards, the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan also stated his desire for other countries to join the defense agreement.
“Our vision of this alliance is not restricted to the three countries,” the Turkish president said to the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper based in London.
“But our hope is that it can expand and that at some point appropriate conditions will allow all the countries in the region to unite under its umbrella,” Erdogan added.
In turn, Kuwait, Bahrain and Somalia, among others, welcomed the deal. The comments of Iran also had a fairly positive tone, noting its policy of creating “security mechanisms based on cooperation between regional countries”.
