Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agreed on 5 October to activate collective deterrence measures under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, the first time the pact has been put into action. The agreement was signed in early August and works on the principle that an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all. Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman said the committee had decided to trigger the measures in response to attacks on the kingdom. Those attacks have come from Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, who have targeted Saudi infrastructure through the year and recently claimed strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and Aramco facilities.
The three governments committed to moving military forces quickly into Saudi territory, though the exact size and timing of any deployment have not been spelled out publicly. The decision lands as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces press a counteroffensive, with claims of recapturing the Red Sea port of Mocha and positions near the Bab al-Mandeb strait. Pakistan had earlier said no military response under the pact was being discussed, so the announcement marks a visible shift in its position. For India the move matters because it ties Pakistan’s armed forces more closely to Saudi defence, in a region that supplies much of India’s oil and hosts millions of Indian workers.
It also widens the Iran war theatre, with Turkey, a NATO member, now formally committed to a Gulf security arrangement. Analysts will watch whether the deployment deters further Houthi strikes or draws the new alliance deeper into the conflict.