IN an evolving strategic development, last week, Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia agreed to increase the scope of trilateral defence cooperation. The three sides reaffirmed the importance of combining the intellectual, technical and financial and human resources of the three friendly nations towards the achievement of shared objectives and attainment of self-sufficiency in the defence domain,” it said. Acknowledging their historical relations, the three countries reiterated the strategic intent to increase the scope of trilateral cooperation and the need to enhance the pace of collaboration in pursuit of common goals, the military’s media wing said.
The second Trilateral Defence Collaboration platform meeting was held last Tuesday at the GHQ, the headquarters of Pakistan’s army, in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. It was attended by senior military officials from the three nations. At this meeting, emphasis was placed on the importance of combining intellectual, technical, financial and human resources to achieve common objectives and attain self-sufficiency in defence.
Notably, the first meeting between the three countries was held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on August 2023. Whereas, the third meeting of the platform will be held during the World Defence Show in Riyadh next month. Turkey’s growing defence capabilities: Recently, from the designing of the aircraft carrier to the construction of assault ships, the Turkish defence industry executive committee decides to develop the country’s military capability with a meeting under the chairmanship of Turkish President Erdogan. As of 2020, the Turkish Armed Forces had an active strength of around 355,200 active personnel consisting of 260,200 armed forces, 45,000 naval forces and 50,000 air forces. In addition, it was estimated that there were 378,700 reserve personnel and 156,800 paramilitary personnel (Turkish Gendarmerie and Turkish Coast Guard), giving a combined active and reserve strength of around 890,500 personnel.
As Turkey focuses on hard power, it is working to become less dependent on outside sources of weapons and materiel. Although Ankara is beefing up its military capabilities, it will not depend solely on hard power to achieve its goals. As for Turkish domestic weapons industry, new developments are chartered regarding the design phase of the aircraft carrier within the scope of military ship projects, as well as the construction of MILGEM 9-10-11-12 class frigates, offshore patrol vessels, new type amphibious assault ships, the next-generation mine-hunting ship and the national assault boat.
Under President Erdogan, some decisions were reached on adding new Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) to the inventory, enhancing their capabilities and ensuring logistical support. Future activities of the national combat aircraft KAAN, procurement of HURKUS aircraft, GOKBEY helicopters, as well as the logistical requirements of Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft were deliberated upon and necessary decisions were taken.
KSA as a rising military power in the Gulf: As of 2015, Saudi Arabia has the best equipped armed forces in the Gulf region, while counting on its Western partners to guarantee its security, the International Institute for Strategic Studies says. The Saudi military numbers 227,000 troops, including 75,000 in the army, 13,500 in the navy and 20,000 in the air force. The Saudi army has about more than 600 heavy tanks, 780 light armoured vehicles and 1,423 armoured troop carriers. ts air force is equipped with 313 fighter jets, including F-15s, Tornados and Eurofighter Typhoons, as well as helicopters. Considered a priority, air defences and deterrents include 16 batteries of Patriot missiles, 17 batteries of Shahine missiles, 16 of Hawk missiles and 73 Crotale/Shahine missile units.
According to statistics provided by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in 2023, the Pakistan Army has approximately 560,000 active duty personnel, supported by the Pakistan Army Reserve, the National Guard and the Civil Armed Forces. Pakistan Army is the sixth-largest army of the world. For 2024, the Global Fire Power (GFP) index denotes Pakistan as a top 10 military in the world. ‘’As for Pakistan, Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) is the largest defence industrial complex, comprising fourteen ordnance factories and seven commercial entities, producing conventional arms and ammunition as per international standards. Pakistan also has joint production projects mostly with our reliable friend China aimed at production of tanks, navy ships, submarines and aircraft but the defence production hasn’t met the intended levels primarily due to financial constraints.’’ The future impact of strategic trilateralism: This trilateral initiative — between a Mediterranean Sea country (Turkiye), a Red Sea country (KSA) and an Arabian Sea country (Pakistan) — reflects the three nations’ desire to create a more solid and integrated defence cooperation block. This could have implications for regional security dynamics, especially in a context where defence technology and military collaboration play an increasingly central role.
The defence cooperation between Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is not new : Pakistan has ordered MILGEM corvettes from Türkiye and uses AKINCI and Bayraktar TB2 combat drones and whereas, Türkiye recently signed a $3.1 billion agreement with Saudi Arabia for the supply of AKINCI UCAVs. These developments highlight the growing importance of technological and industrial cooperation in defence between these countries. Arguably, the growing partnership could also have an economic impact, particularly through the trade of arms and military equipment. Joint development could lead to cost reduction and increased efficiency. By enhancing their defence capabilities and technology unifying their positions, these countries might exert more significant influence in regional conflicts or international security matters. And above all, this partnership could affect these countries’ bilateral relations with other nations, either by strengthening existing alliances or creating tensions with countries that might perceive this cooperation as a threat.
To conclude, the current collaboration may symbolize a convergence of strategic interests among the three countries. It could help and sharing of defence technologies could lead to improved military capabilities for each of the create a more united regional block facing common security challenges, such as terrorism. Cooperation in the development participating countries. This might include advancements in armaments, drones, air defence systems, etc. And yet futuristically, the collaboration between a NATO Muslim state Turkiye, an economically strongest Muslim state Saudi Arabia and a declared nuclear power Pakistan will revitalize the strategic bonds between Ankara, Riyadh and Islamabad.
—The writer, an independent ‘IR’ researcher-cum-international law analyst based in Pakistan, is member of European Consortium for Political Research Standing Group on IR, Critical Peace & Conflict Studies, also a member of Washington Foreign Law Society and European Society of International Law. He deals with the strategic and nuclear issues.
Email: [email protected]
views expressed are writer’s own.
