Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed a key defence deal called the “Mecca Joint Defence Agreement” on Friday amid the backdrop of the Middle East war. The agreement will deepen cooperation between the three countries at a time of growing security concerns.

According to the deal, an attack against one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against them all.

“The 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. It further provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defence cooperation among the three States”, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The agreement was signed during a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Saudi Arabia.

The deal brings together oil-rich Saudi Arabia and nuclear-powered Pakistan as well as Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and a rapidly growing defence industry.