Pakistan-Turkiye-Saudi defence deal could reduce US role in West Asia

The trilateral defence pact signed by Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia could significantly reduce the United States’ strategic role in West Asia, according to some Pakistan-based defence analysts.

The three countries on Friday signed a joint defence agreement under which an attack against one of them will be treated as an attack against all of them, amid increasing security concerns in the wake of escalating tensions in West Asia.

Defence analyst Abdullah Hameed Gul, son of a former ISI chief, said the pact has emerged against the backdrop of growing doubts in the Gulf region about the United States’ ability to provide security guarantees to regional allies. “The US had 27 military bases in the Gulf countries, and 17 of them were destroyed by Iran during the recent US-Iran war. This led people in the region to question whether the Americans could actually protect them. That created the need for such an agreement,” Gul said.

With this pact, said Gul, America’s “role in the region has been minimised  — or is effectively over.” “Qatar and Kuwait will soon also join similar agreements with Pakistan,” said Gul, adding that Gulf countries had realised that Israel, rather than Iran, posed a greater security challenge to them. Foreign affairs expert Muhammad Mehdi said the pact has altered perceptions of Pakistan’s position in the international arena.

“Pakistan’s standing in the world has changed. The world now sees Pakistan as having a major role to play in the Middle East and Central Asia. With Turkiye joining the three-nation arrangement, Pakistan will also be viewed differently in Europe,” he said.