For India, the Mecca pact is a setback. For China, it's a warning

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey signed a Nato-style mutual defence agreement in Mecca on August 7, declaring that "any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all”.There is no other way to put it: The new Pakistan-Saudi Arabia-Turkey defence pact is a setback for India. True, it’s not directly aimed at India and one of the main financers of the deal, Saudi Arabia, is not agnostic towards India. In fact, India-Saudi Arabia ties have grown many folds in recent years.But, if Pakistan is involved in any defence pact and that too as a net security provider, India will have to take note of it. Kanwal Sibal, India’s former foreign secretary, described the development as a "very negative development for Indian interests".The pact may embolden Pakistan to take a more belligerent attitude towards India.