Asim Munir as ‘Islamic Nato’ commander? Turkey says military chiefs to join governing body

Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir could be up for another promotion. He could soon be the de facto —or even de jure— ‘Islamic Nato’ commander.

Turkish Defence Ministry on Thursday said that one of the bodies running the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia-Turkey alliance would comprise the military chiefs of the three countries, according to Reuters.

Previously, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had confirmed that the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement is technically similar to Nato’s Article 5, the collective defence clause that underpins the alliance. He had said that that a committee of ministers, comparable to Nato’s governing bodies, would be set up to run the alliance, and a general secretariat would be set up in Saudi Arabia.

But now the Turkish Defence Ministry has said that the member-states will form also include military chiefs in the governing structure.

The ministry said the mechanisms will include the three countries’ defence ministers, foreign ministers, and military chiefs. It added that the three countries will also hold joint military exercises under the Mecca Agreement’s framework.

“Under the accord, strategic political and military mechanisms plan to be established involving the Defence Ministers, Foreign Ministers, and Chiefs of General Staff/Armed Forces Commanders, and that coordination among the three countries will be conducted at the highest level,” the ministry said.

The ministry added that the pact’s fundamental goal was to ensure defence and military ties were put on a “more institutional and sustainable” footing.

Can Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey really form ‘Islamic Nato’?

Despite the rhetoric, equating the alliance with Nato might be premature. Observers say the three nations remain far from establishing an ‘Islamic Nato’. That is not because they lack the intent to but because they lack the necessary capabilities.

The term ‘Islamic Nato’ might have a nice ring to it, but it is premature to describe the Mecca Agreement in those terms, according to Aishwaria Sonavane, who heads the Pakistan programme at the Takshashila Institution.

“These three countries lack the institutional foundations of Nato-like interoperability. Turkey brings the experience of being a Nato member, but Pakistan’s military ecosystem is currently dominated by Chinese technology, while Saudi Arabia remains heavily dependent on US systems. The three can cooperate, and they already do so to varying degrees, but they do not possess Nato’s interoperability standards,” Sonavane previously told Firstpost.

But that could change with time as Turkey indicated that the three countries intend to move towards interoperability.

Joint military exercises involving land, naval, and air forces, as well as air defence and unmanned systems were planned under the agreement, in addition to deeper defence industry cooperation, the Turkish Defence Ministry said.

“The aim is to provide not only product and system supply, but also joint development and production, technology cooperation, and sustainable maintenance and logistics support,” the ministry further said, adding that unmanned and autonomous systems, electronic warfare, and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities would be prioritised.