What Could Bangladesh Gain From Joining the Mecca Defence Alliance?

DHAKA:

Bangladesh could gain opportunities to strengthen its defence capabilities, expand military technology cooperation and deepen strategic ties with countries such as Turkey and Pakistan if it eventually joins the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, analysts say.

The agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan has attracted international attention because of its military dimension. Although some have informally described the grouping as a “Muslim NATO”, Turkish geopolitics professor Murat Aslam says that comparison is misleading.

Aslam, a professor at Hasan Kalyoncu University and an international geopolitics analyst, said the agreement should primarily be viewed as a defensive arrangement rather than an offensive military alliance.

He said the grouping was not established against any specific country. Its initial objectives include preventing conflicts among member states and strengthening their collective defence capabilities. The agreement could also carry wider commercial and geopolitical significance and may eventually expand to include additional countries, he said.

Bangladesh considering possible membership

The agreement currently has three members — Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan — but discussions about expanding the grouping have included Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry has indicated a positive view of the agreement, although Dhaka has not yet decided whether to join.

Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman told parliament that Bangladesh’s decision would depend on the intentions of the existing members. If invited, he said, Dhaka would consider the proposal positively.

He also argued that because the initiative concerns cooperation among Muslim countries, there should be no reason for other countries to view Bangladesh’s possible participation with concern.

Potential military and technology benefits

Security analyst Hasib Aziz said joining the alliance could provide Bangladesh with opportunities to improve its military capabilities through greater defence cooperation.

Turkey and Pakistan could play important roles in such cooperation, he said, particularly in areas including military technology, artificial intelligence and intelligence-sharing arrangements.

Bangladesh already imports Bayraktar drones and Otokar Cobra vehicles from Turkey. Aziz said a broader strategic partnership could potentially expand cooperation in these and other defence-related areas.

Why it is not another NATO

Aslam cautioned against portraying the Mecca agreement as a new version of NATO.

Unlike NATO, he said, the arrangement does not have a unified military command structure or its own standing army. Its security commitments therefore should not be assumed to operate in the same way as those of the Western military alliance.

Aslam pointed to previous tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran as an example, noting that even when Saudi Arabia faced attacks from Iran, Pakistan was not automatically required to enter the conflict.

South Asian geopolitical risks

The agreement could nevertheless have significant implications for South Asian geopolitics, particularly because Pakistan is one of its founding members.

India has already indicated that it is closely monitoring regional developments that could affect its security.

That raises questions about how the alliance might respond if tensions between India and Pakistan were to escalate in the future. Another concern is whether Bangladesh could face pressure to become involved in a conflict despite its own interests.

For Dhaka, therefore, potential gains in defence cooperation and military technology would need to be weighed against broader diplomatic considerations, regional power dynamics and the risk of becoming entangled in future conflicts involving other members.