World Watch
Makkah Joint Defence Agreement : India Watches Closely, Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s Aide Mulls Joining Pact With Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan
Signed on August 7, the ‘Makkah Joint Defence Agreement’ establishes a framework for collective deterrence and stipulates that an armed attack on any one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all three.
Picture : @trahmanbnp/X
Bangladesh has said it saw no risk in joining the Mecca defence pact with Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan, asserting it would not restrict Dhaka’s engagement with other partners.
Signed on August 7, the ‘Makkah Joint Defence Agreement’ establishes a framework for collective deterrence and stipulates that an armed attack on any one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all three.
As reported by PTI, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir’s statement, who is a close of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman during a media briefingcame days after Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman told Parliament that Bangladesh would positively consider joining the Mecca defence, if invited, and said it was an internal matter of “our Muslim family” with no scope for others to be concerned about it.
“This is a unique pact that presents new opportunities,” he told reporters at the Foreign Ministry after Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdullah Zafer bin Abiyah called on him.
Kobir added Bangladesh was currently holding discussions on this matter and “those discussions are progressing positively with all bilateral partners.”