Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan Sign Mecca Joint Defence Agreement

The leaders of three countries — Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan — met in Mecca and signed a special promise called the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.

This agreement says that if an enemy attacks one of these countries, the other two will treat it like an attack on all three of them.

That idea is called collective defence, and it is similar to the promise NATO member countries make to one another.

The three countries are all mostly Muslim nations that want to feel safer together in a region with a lot of tension.

Recently, a conflict involving Iran worried the region and disrupted ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world's biggest oil sellers, and Turkey has a large military and is part of NATO.

Pakistan is the only Muslim-majority country in the world that has nuclear weapons.

The leaders spent almost a year negotiating the agreement, which was first reported by Reuters in January, before signing it.

Their goal is to strengthen collective deterrence, which means scaring off anyone who might think about attacking them.

However, the agreement does not clearly state that the countries must automatically send their armies if one of them is attacked.