Dhaka says joining the Mecca defence pact would not limit its ties with other partners, as experts warn the military alliance could test Bangladesh’s traditional non-aligned foreign policy.
Bangladesh has said it sees “no risk” in joining the Mecca defence pact involving Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, arguing that participation would not prevent Dhaka from maintaining relations and security cooperation with other countries.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir made the remarks on Sunday, days after Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman told Parliament that Bangladesh would positively consider joining the pact if invited.
The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkey on August 7, provides a framework for collective deterrence and states that an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be treated as an attack against all.
Dhaka says pact will not restrict other partnerships
Speaking to reporters after meeting Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdullah Zafer bin Abiyah, Kobir described the agreement as a “unique pact” that could offer new opportunities.
He said Bangladesh was currently discussing the issue with its bilateral partners and that those discussions were progressing positively.
“A country like Bangladesh must approach foreign policy and security cooperation in a highly integrated and flexible manner,” Kobir said, adding that Dhaka would seek to balance its international relations.
He argued that entering one particular sphere of cooperation during a volatile geopolitical environment would not prevent Bangladesh from participating in other alliances or areas.
Kobir said the pact was among the issues discussed during his recent visit to Jeddah, including his meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, and described the responses from his interlocutors as “positive, very positive”.
Bangladesh, however, has not yet received an invitation to join the agreement.
The proposed move has nevertheless triggered debate over whether joining a military pact would represent a departure from Bangladesh’s longstanding policy of avoiding formal military alliances.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Khalilur Rahman told Parliament on Thursday that Dhaka viewed the pact positively and described it as an internal matter of the “Muslim family”. He said Bangladesh would “certainly consider it positively” if an invitation was extended.
Minister Rahman, however, said Bangladesh is yet to receive any offer to join the pact but if they express an intention to include Bangladesh, “we will certainly consider it positively.” On August 7, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the ’Makkah Joint Defence Agreement’ amid increasing security concerns in the wake of escalating tensions in West Asia.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the pact after the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence at the Al-Safa Palace in Islam’s holiest city of Mecca.
The ’Makkah Joint Defence Agreement’ is “intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three States shall be regarded as an attack against them all,” a joint statement said.
In New Delhi, replying to questions about the pact, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal in his weekly briefing on Friday said, “We continue to closely follow all developments having a bearing on India’s security and take all necessary steps to safeguard it.” Foreign policy experts and former diplomats viewed Bangladesh’s willingness to join the pact as a deviation from its long committed doctrine of strict non-alignment and said such a development could complicate its foreign relations, particularly with neighbouring India.
Former ambassador and commentator Mahfuzur Rahman said the existing three partners of the agreement are in military conflicts or are likely to be involved in armed confrontations with other countries while Bangladesh has little possibility to face any such situation.
“A military accord like the Mecca Pact could be important for Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, but not essential in any way for Bangladesh,” he told PTI.
The former diplomat said Bangladesh might get involved in any war situation for “no justified reason” if it joined the pact that “has an article on collective security.” Another former diplomat Humayun Kabir, who runs a think-tank Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, said Bangladesh traditionally maintained a policy of not joining military pacts.
“If this is a military pact, then we have to examine how the security interests of all its members align with Bangladesh’s national security interests,” he said and added the country will need to understand how the inclusion of certain countries would affect its security, economic interests and broader strategic interests.
Proponents of the pact, however, argue the alliance would provide Bangladesh vital strategic depth and enhance national security.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s defence adviser and retired military general Fazle Elahi Akbar, who runs Foundation for Strategic and Development Studies (FSDS), said the argument that joining an alliance would “drag us into war” is an “overestimation of the risks.”
With inputs from agencies
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