Prelims: Current events of national and international importance | International Relations
Why in News?
Recently, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have signed a joint defence agreement.
- It sees three of the world's most powerful Muslim nations come together to offer mutual defence guarantees.
- It was saying an attack on one of them would be seen as an attack on all three.
- After the US and Israel attacked Iran recently, Tehran and its allies’ struck targets in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
- It disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping channel, and the Red Sea.
- Sunni NATO - Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are the 3 Sunni-majority powers, also called as Sunni NATO.
- Turkey has Nato's 2nd-largest military.
- Saudi Arabia is the Gulf's leading military power and one of the world's biggest oil exporters.
- While Pakistan is the world's only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority country.
- Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had already announced a joint defence pact last year.
- Kuwait, another Gulf state, has also ratified a broad defence cooperation agreement with Pakistan in 2023.
- Turkey has sided with Pakistan in the Kashmir issue even after it has illegally occupied the area.
- Turkey has also helped the Islamic Republic during the four-day military retaliation by India against its sponsoring of terror in May 2025.
- Last month, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels – who control much of the north-west of the country – announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and targeted Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
Reference
The Hindu | Joint defence agreement
