MANAMA (Web Desk) - Syria is considering joining the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, a regional defence pact involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Saturday.
Speaking at the Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain, Al-Shaibani confirmed that discussions were underway to assess Damascus’s potential membership in the alliance.
Signed on August 7, the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement allows its three member states to consider an armed attack against any one of them as an attack against all.
According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Al-Shaibani also expressed Syria’s support for Gulf countries against external aggression and condemned missile and drone attacks targeting the region.
He said Damascus wanted to position Syria as a bridge for regional prosperity and economic cooperation rather than allow its territory to become a platform for threatening neighbouring countries.
The Syrian foreign minister also condemned repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, reaffirmed that the occupied Golan Heights belonged to Syria and called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
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Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has been seeking regional and international support amid escalating attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, including a deadly strike that reportedly forced Riyadh’s international airport to close for two weeks.
Pakistan has two defence arrangements with Saudi Arabia, including a bilateral Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement and the trilateral Makkah pact, which also involves Turkiye.
Pakistan's military spokesperson, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, previously said Islamabad was prepared to provide whatever support was necessary to defend Saudi Arabia, while emphasising that the alliance was exclusively defensive.
He also indicated that the agreement did not explicitly prevent additional countries from joining, although membership decisions rested with the political leadership of its founding members.
Al-Shaibani's remarks come after his August visit to Pakistan, where he held discussions with Field Marshal Asim Munir on regional security and bilateral defence cooperation.