Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a landmark defence agreement in Mecca on Friday, establishing a collective deterrence framework that says an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be treated as an attack against all.

The Mecca Joint Deterrence Agreement, signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, marks a significant development in the security architecture of the Middle East and wider Muslim world, says Al Jazeera.

Here is what the agreement means and why the three countries have signed it.

What does the agreement do?

The pact establishes a collective defence framework among Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Under the agreement, an armed attack against one signatory is considered an attack against all three.

Beyond mutual deterrence, the agreement provides for closer military and intelligence cooperation and sets out a framework for cooperation in energy and defence manufacturing.

The three countries also intend to build their defence capabilities, including efforts to strengthen Saudi Arabia's domestic defence industry and reduce its longstanding reliance on imported weapons.

The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the agreement was "guided by the longstanding historical ties among the three states, based on the enduring bonds of brotherhood and Islamic solidarity that unite them, and building upon their shared strategic interests and longstanding defence cooperation".

Why was the pact signed now?

The agreement comes as the Middle East faces heightened instability, including the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran and the conflict in Gaza.

The regional tensions have also exposed concerns among some countries about the reliability of existing security arrangements, many of which have relied heavily on the United States.

Ozgur Unluhisarcikli of the German Marshall Fund said the agreement "reflects a growing desire for greater regional strategic autonomy at a time when confidence in the existing security order has eroded".

Saudi Arabia has faced attacks by Iran-backed groups, including Yemen's Houthi movement, while Türkiye and Pakistan have not been directly hit by the recent regional tensions to the same extent.

Analysts say the three countries therefore have a shared interest in developing security arrangements that give them greater capacity to respond independently to regional threats.

"There have been several layers of necessity converging, and forcing these three big countries to come together and sign this binding agreement," said Resul Serdar, an Al Jazeera journalist.

What does each country bring to the partnership?

The three countries have different military, economic and strategic capabilities that could complement one another.

Türkiye has one of the region's most developed defence industries and Nato's second-largest military. Its defence companies have expanded their production of drones, missiles, naval systems and other military equipment.

Saudi Arabia brings substantial financial resources, its position as the world's top oil exporter and significant political and economic influence in the Middle East.

Pakistan has extensive military experience and is the only Muslim-majority country with nuclear weapons, giving the partnership an additional strategic deterrence dimension.

Osama bin Javaid, an Al Jazeera journalist, said: "The three of them combined now present a force that will take this region towards a different security architecture than the one in place over the last few decades".

Why is Saudi defence production important?

A major element of the agreement is capacity building, particularly the development of Saudi Arabia's domestic defence industry.

Saudi Arabia has historically relied heavily on imported military equipment, particularly from the United States. Building greater domestic production could reduce that dependence while allowing Riyadh to develop its own industrial and technological capabilities.

Murat Aslan of Hasan Kalyoncu University said: "We know that Saudi Arabia is dependent on importing their defence products... especially from the United States for decades, and we know that it's not cost-effective and they need to build their own defence sector inside Saudi Arabia".

The agreement provides a potential framework for Türkiye and Pakistan to contribute to that effort through defence manufacturing and other forms of industrial cooperation.

Does the agreement target Iran or Israel?

The signatories have presented the pact as defensive rather than as an alliance aimed at a specific country.

Its timing, however, has prompted debate over its wider regional implications.

Iranian officials have criticised the agreement. Ebrahim Rezaei, an Iranian member of parliament, said: "Saudis must know that a paper agreement with Türkiye and Pakistan will not bring them security, just as years of one-sided dependence on the Americans did not bring them security".

Some Israeli commentators have described the emerging partnership as a "hostile Sunni axis", reflecting concerns about the creation of a new regional bloc.

Turkish officials, however, have said the agreement is purely defensive and could be open to participation by other regional countries.

Erdogan has also strongly criticised Israel's conduct in the region, saying: "The current war-addicted Israeli government must not be allowed to drown our geography in the smell of gunpowder and blood again".

How could it change the regional security system?

The agreement could give the three countries a mechanism for coordinating their military capabilities and responding collectively to future threats.

For Saudi Arabia, closer defence ties with Türkiye and Pakistan could provide additional options beyond its traditional reliance on US security guarantees.

For Türkiye, the pact could strengthen its influence in the Gulf and deepen its defence and strategic relationships with two major Muslim-majority states.

For Pakistan, it offers closer ties with Saudi Arabia, an important economic and political partner, while expanding defence cooperation with Türkiye.

Yasmine Farouk of the International Crisis Group said the closer ties reflect a realisation that "security in their neighbourhood can no longer be left at the mercy of rivalry between the US and Israel, on one side, and Iran, on the other".

The agreement does not necessarily replace existing alliances or security partnerships. But it signals that the three countries are seeking a greater role in determining the region's security arrangements rather than relying exclusively on external powers.

What happens next?

The immediate test will be how the agreement is implemented.

The pact sets out broad areas for cooperation, including intelligence sharing, defence manufacturing, energy and military capacity building. Its significance will depend on whether those commitments develop into sustained institutional cooperation and whether the collective-deterrence provision is tested by a future crisis.

For now, the agreement represents a formal attempt by three influential Muslim-majority countries to coordinate their security policies at a time of heightened regional uncertainty.