The Mecca Pact: As West Asia rearms and realigns, can India hold its ground?

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan on August 7, arrives at a moment of profound flux in West Asian geopolitics. Its timing and venue are intriguing. Concluded amid the lingering of the Iran conflict and rapidly shifting regional alignments, the pact declares that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all. The three governments have stressed that the arrangement is defensive and directed against no particular state.The timing and venue may appear as a Sunni counterweight to Iran. Such a reading is too simplistic and misleading. The more consequential question is why three countries that maintain close ties with the United States have chosen to formalise this arrangement now. Saudi Arabia already possesses a defence understanding with Pakistan; Türkiye is a NATO member.