Saudi Arabia — Pakistan and the Gulf

Summary

Two instruments, eleven months apart. On 17 September 2025 the Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister and the Pakistani Prime Minister signed a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement in Riyadh; the governments' own statement said that aggression against either country would be considered aggression against both. On 11 April 2026 the Saudi Ministry of Defense announced the arrival of a Pakistani military force, including fighter and support aircraft, at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the Eastern Sector, stating in terms that the deployment was made in accordance with that agreement. On 7 August 2026 the same two leaders signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement alongside the Turkish President; the summit joint statement says an armed attack against any one of the three shall be regarded as an attack against them all. On 31 August the three states' foreign ministers, defence ministers and chiefs of general staff met in Istanbul as the agreement's Strategic Political and Defence Committee and agreed to establish a Secretariat in Saudi Arabia, with Pakistan providing the first Secretary General for three years. On 23 September Pakistan announced that holder, retired Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood, for a Secretariat being established in Riyadh; on 25 September the three chiefs of staff met in Riyadh, at their foreign ministers' direction, to explore ways to assist Saudi Arabia under the Makkah agreement, and pledged intelligence cooperation, military coordination and the integration of defence capabilities. That meeting was the first consultation held under the agreement; no invocation, force contribution or command arrangement was announced. On 5 October the agreement's committee, in emergency session in Riyadh, decided to implement the collective-defence commitments and to provide the agreed forces and capabilities for rapid deployment in the kingdom, under approved arrangements that are not published, and formally appointed the Secretary General; it named no force or mission. Neither agreement text has been published, and no response procedure under either has been.

Why it matters

This is the relationship most likely to be misread during an attack on Saudi Arabia, because Pakistani forces are in the kingdom and a collective-defence agreement exists, and the two facts have different origins. The deployment was announced under the 2025 bilateral instrument four months before the trilateral one was signed. Any claim that the Makkah agreement has become operational therefore has to identify activity attributable to that agreement, rather than observe a presence that predates it.

Agreements

• Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (Saudi Arabia – Pakistan) · signed 2025-09-17

  Signed in Riyadh. The governments' statement described aggression against either as aggression against both. No text has been published. This is the instrument the Saudi Ministry of Defense named when it announced the arrival of a Pakistani force in April 2026.

• Makkah Joint Defence Agreement · signed 2026-08-07

  Signed at Al-Safa Palace by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan. The summit joint statement, published by all three governments, states that an armed attack against any one of the three shall be regarded as an attack against them all, that the agreement strengthens collective deterrence and that it provides for developing all aspects of defence cooperation. The agreement text itself is not published and no operative term is recorded here.

Related events

• A Pakistani military force arrives in Saudi Arabia under the 2025 bilateral agreement 11 Apr 2026

  Military · Diplomatic

• Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan sign the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement 7 Aug 2026

  Diplomatic · Military

• The Makkah Agreement's political and defence committee meets for the first time 31 Aug 2026

  Diplomatic · Military

• The Makkah Agreement's chiefs of staff meet in Riyadh on support to Saudi Arabia 23 – 25 Sep 2026

  Military · Diplomatic

• The Makkah Agreement's committee decides to implement its collective-defence commitments in Saudi Arabia 5 Oct 2026

  Military · Diplomatic

What remains unknown

• Neither agreement text is public. The collective-defence undertakings are recorded as the parties' own official statements of them; what response each requires, who decides and on what threshold is not established.
• Whether the Makkah agreement supersedes the 2025 bilateral agreement, incorporates it or stands alongside it is described differently in different accounts and is not settled by any source read. Pakistan's foreign ministry said on 10 September 2026 that the Makkah agreement is already in force; it said nothing about the bilateral instrument's status.
• Whether any Pakistani support to Saudi Arabia after the 25 September Riyadh meeting is provided under the Makkah agreement, under the 2025 bilateral instrument, or outside both is not established; the Associated Press reported on 16 September that Pakistani officials had received no Saudi request under the Makkah agreement.
• Reuters reported on 2 October 2026, citing unnamed Pakistani officials, that Pakistan flew equipment including air-defence systems, light artillery and drones to Aden in September, and that Pakistani military advisers are with Saudi counterparts supporting Yemeni forces. No government stated this support, and none attributed it to the Makkah agreement, the 2025 bilateral instrument or anything else; it is not authored as a contribution under either.
• The size, composition and mission of the Pakistani presence beyond the April 2026 announcement are not established. Figures circulating in reporting, including a possible ceiling in the tens of thousands, are attributed to unnamed officials and are not authored here.
• Whether either agreement bears on Pakistan's nuclear status is not addressed by any source read, and this module makes no claim about it.
• The agreement is trilateral; its Türkiye–Pakistan limb is outside this module's boundary and is not authored.