Archive · 10 Aug 2026
Saudi-Turkey-Egypt-Pakistan axis: Why it should concern India
Four countries - Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan - have started working much more closely together.
People call this group STEP, after the first letters of their names.
These countries are worried about wars and attacks in their part of the world.
In February 2026, the United States and Israel fought a campaign against Iran, and this pushed the four countries closer together.
Pakistan, which has nuclear weapons, signed a special defence deal with Saudi Arabia in September 2025 promising to help each other if attacked.
Saudi Arabia's plan to modernize, called Vision 2030, has come under pressure, and it has turned back to leading the Islamic world.
Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, pushed hardest to make the group formal.
Some people in India are worried about this new teamwork.
They fear that violent groups might feel encouraged and gain more support.
The writer of the article says the group is more about power than religion, but its language can still help extremists.
On July 30, 2026, Saudi Arabia unveiled a 14-nation maritime coalition to guard the Red Sea.
The February 2026 US-Israeli campaign against Iran augmented a repositioning of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan into the 'STEP' grouping.
Pakistan signed the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement with Saudi Arabia in September 2025, the first military pact between an Arab Gulf state and a nuclear power.
STEP foreign ministers met three times in a single month, with Egypt saying the four nations were 'hammering out a security deal' at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
The author argues the bloc, while not formally linked to TTP, al-Qaeda or ISKP, could give Pakistan-sponsored terror networks rhetorical cover for legitimacy that should concern India.
- Who
- Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan (the 'STEP' grouping) and their leaders - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; the article is written by a Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.
- What
- The four states are building a closer strategic axis, institutionalised through a Saudi-led 14-nation Red Sea coalition, a Pakistan-Saudi defence pact and repeated foreign-minister meetings, following the US-Israeli campaign against Iran.
- When
- The realignment spans September 2025 (the Pakistan-Saudi pact), through ministerial meetings in March-April 2026, to the July 30, 2026 unveiling of the Red Sea coalition, following the US-Israeli campaign against Iran in February 2026.
- Where
- Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan, with ministerial meetings in Riyadh and at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum; the grouping's security concerns span the Red Sea, the Strait of Hormuz and South Asia.
- Why
- The February 2026 US-Israeli war against Iran and regional security pressures prompted the four states to hedge through a pan-Islamic security narrative; the author argues this 'realism wearing Islamic dress' could give Pakistan-sponsored terror networks rhetorical cover, a permissive atmosphere that should concern India, noting the UAE's absence shows it is not uniform Sunni solidarity.
- Red Sea coalition
- 14-nation maritime coalition unveiled by Saudi Arabia on July 30, 2026
- US-Israeli campaign against Iran
- February 2026
- Pakistan-Saudi defence pact
- Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed September 2025; 'any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both'
- STEP ministerial meetings
- Foreign ministers met three times in a single month; Egypt said the four nations were 'hammering out a security deal' at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum
- Turkish annual inflation
- 31.75% as of July 2026
- Turkish central bank rate
- 37%, held for four consecutive meetings
- Pakistan fatalities in 2025
- 3,413, driven largely by resurgent Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) violence
- Muslim Brotherhood designation
- Designated as terrorist by the US Treasury and State Departments in January 2026, citing material support for Hamas