WHAT place will the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement occupy in history? Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered a glimpse of its significance while inaugurating the Victory Monument on August 14. He had returned from Makkah only a week earlier, where he had signed the historic agreement with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The spirit of that historic moment was still fresh in his heart and mind, reflected in every word of his speech.
The essence of his message was clear: the agreement has brought the Muslim world, particularly Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, onto the strategic map as an emerging force. Thus, on Pakistan’s 79th Independence Day, it became an extraordinary gift to the Pakistani people. In simple terms, its guiding principle is peace, stability, unity and development. During a discussion on the Prime Minister’s speech, I asked Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar why it carried such unusual emotion and conviction. He replied: “This is not so simple. The agreement received simultaneous approval from Makkah and Madinah. This time, both blessings were granted. It was a reward for bringing Muslims together and taking the reins of their collective destiny from others and placing them in their own hands.”
There is another dimension to the agreement. The words may be brief but their historical meaning is immense. After the First World War, the Ottoman Empire was dismantled and the Middle East was divided and subdivided. After the Second World War, the world was effectively divided between the Soviet Union and the United States. Many nations were formally independent but the nature and extent of their sovereignty were often limited. The Makkah Agreement may, therefore, represent the beginning of the end of that old arrangement. Some of it has already disappeared; more may follow. The Muslim world is moving towards making decisions about its own destiny. In that sense, this is not merely a political development of our time; it may prove a significant turning point in history.
Whatever else emerges from the recent Middle Eastern conflict, its greatest positive outcome may be this new strategic realignment. Such an achievement did not emerge easily from the jaws of war. It required sustained diplomatic and political effort, in which Pakistan’s civil and military leadership played a significant role. Two developments are particularly important. First, attempts were made to draw Saudi Arabia into the conflict, but Saudi Arabia and other Arab States demonstrated restraint and wisdom. Consequently, efforts to drag Saudi Arabia into a war involving Israel, Iran and the United States failed. Second, Iran launched attacks against Saudi Arabia and some other Arab States. Had Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries responded militarily, however, the situation could have changed dramatically—and potentially produced precisely what Israel would have preferred: Muslims fighting Muslims.
They did not fall into that trap. Their restraint demonstrated something much larger: the old understandings, alliances and security arrangements linking the Arab world with the United States were no longer sufficient to define the region’s future. The recent war appears to have strengthened the conviction that Middle Eastern countries must increasingly take responsibility for their own security—or rely upon trusted partners such as Pakistan and Türkiye. This marks a profound change in the strategic identity of the Middle East. Pakistan, once geographically distant from the region’s central security calculations, has now emerged as an important political and strategic partner.
Saudi Arabia’s restraint produced another historic consequence. Riyadh and Tehran moved closer to a common understanding about the future of the region. This does not mean that their historic differences have disappeared overnight, nor that every dispute has been resolved. It means, rather, that the intensity of their rivalry has diminished. If this process continues, further improvement may follow. The emerging Middle East will consequently have contours very different from those of the past. Iran appears to have little reason to oppose this emerging regional framework led by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye; in several respects, greater regional autonomy has also served Iranian interests.
The larger story is about a Muslim world that was once fragmented, divided and, at times, locked in conflict with itself. A new strategic consciousness is now emerging as countries once dependent upon competing external powers increasingly seek to shape their own destiny. This transformation matters not only because of military cooperation, but because it reflects growing confidence among Muslim countries that their security, diplomacy and economic future should not remain permanently dependent on decisions made elsewhere. The agreement gives practical expression to that confidence and creates a framework for greater coordination among partners sharing historic, cultural and strategic interests. The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement may ultimately be remembered not merely as a defence arrangement between three countries, but as the beginning of a broader transformation in the Muslim world.
—This writer is former advisor to the President of Pakistan, author & mass media theorist.
(farooq.adilbhuta@gmail,com)
