- Minister says draft pact prepared after months of talks.
- Potential deal separate from bilateral Saudi-Pakistani pact.
- Turkiye minister emphasises need for regional cooperation.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye have prepared a draft defence agreement after nearly a year of talks, Minister for Defence Production Raza Hayat Harraj said, a signal they could be seeking a bulwark against a flare-up of regional violence in the last two years.
Harraj told Reuters on Wednesday the potential deal between the three regional powers was separate from a bilateral Saudi-Pakistani accord announced last year. A final consensus between the three states is needed to complete the deal, he said.
“The Pakistan-Saudi Arabia-Turkiye trilateral agreement is something that is already in pipeline,” Harraj said in an interview.
“The draft agreement is already available with us. The draft agreement is already with Saudi Arabia. The draft agreement is already available with Turkiye. And all three countries are deliberating. And this agreement has been there for the last 10 months.”
Asked at a press conference in Istanbul on Thursday about media reports on negotiations between the three sides, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said talks had been held but that no agreement had been signed.
Fidan pointed to a need for broader regional cooperation and trust to overcome distrust that creates “cracks and problems” that led to the emergence of external hegemonies, or wars and instability stemming from terrorism, in the region.
“At the end of all of these, we have a proposal like this: all regional nations must come together to create a cooperation platform on the issue of security,” Fidan said. Regional issues could be resolved if relevant countries would “be sure of each other,” he added.
“At the moment, there are meetings, talks, but we have not signed any agreement. Our President (Tayyip Erdogan)’s vision is for an inclusive platform that creates wider, bigger cooperation and stability,” Fidan said, without naming Pakistan or Saudi Arabia directly.
Last week, Bloomberg reported that Ankara was at an “advanced stage of discussions” to join the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
The publication stated that the potential deal would pave the way for a new security alignment that “could shift the balance of power in the Middle East and beyond”.
However, Harraj has clarified that the new draft was separate from the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia SMDA.
Pakistan and Turkiye have decades-long defence ties, with Ankara building corvette warships for the Pakistan Navy. Ankara has also upgraded numerous F-16 fighter jets for the Pakistan Air Force and provides drone technology to Islamabad.
Pakistani officials credit the country’s military success against India in the May 2025 conflict to strengthened defence agreements.
On Wednesday, PM Shehbaz said Pakistan was engaged in discussions with multiple countries on defence agreements, including the sale of its fighter jets.
“After Pakistan won the war last year, the demand for Pakistani fighter jets has increased […] many countries are actively engaged with us to acquire the jets,” the premier said while addressing a meeting of the federal cabinet.
Prior to that, Minister for Defence Production Raza Hayat Haraj told the BBC that Islamabad was in talks with several countries over potential agreements to sell JF-17 Thunder fighter jets.
Pakistan and India went to war in May last year after India launched an unprovoked attack on Pakistan following the attack on tourists in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
New Delhi maintains that the terrorists who killed 26 tourists in IIOJK’s Pahalgam were Pakistanis — an accusation that Islamabad has denied and has also asked India to partake in a neutral investigation.
Pakistan, during the 87-hour conflict, downed its six fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones.
The war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States.
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