Pakistan once again hints at an Islamic NATO-like military alliance of Islamic countries !

(‘NATO’ stands for ‘North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’, a military alliance comprising 29 countries worldwide.)

Islamabad (Pakistan) – Flying high on China’s favours, Pakistan seems to be slowly expanding its military footprint across the Arab world, a move that threatens to alter the balance of power in both South and West Asia, particularly for India. While Islamabad is nearing multi-billion dollar arms deals with Saudi Arabia and Sudan, a Pakistani minister said the South Asian nation has also worked up a draft defence agreement with Ankara and Riyadh for a NATO-like Islamic alliance.

Islamic NATO

Raza Hayat Harraj, Pakistan’s Minister for Defence Production, told Reuters that the potential deal between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey was separate from a bilateral Saudi-Pakistani accord announced last year. A final consensus between the three states is needed to complete the deal, he said.

“The Pakistan-Saudi Arabia-Turkey trilateral agreement is something that is already in the pipeline,” Harraj said in an interview.

Why is there discussion about an Islamic NATO ?

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a ‘Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement’ last year. This agreement contains provisions similar to NATO, under which an attack on one country is considered an attack on both. There is discussion about including Türkiye in this agreement as well. Due to the potential military alliance among Türkiye, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, the concept of an Islamic NATO has come into focus.

Editorial Perspective

Pakistan is trying to create pressure on India by forming an Islamic NATO. Before that, India should teach Pakistan a lesson similar to the one Russia has taught Ukraine !