Bangladesh on Sunday said it sees no risk in joining the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye, maintaining that membership would not restrict its engagement with other international partners. The statement came days after Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman said Dhaka would positively consider joining the pact if invited.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said Bangladesh was discussing the issue with its bilateral partners and that the talks were progressing positively. He stressed that Dhaka intended to maintain a flexible foreign policy while balancing its relationships amid a changing international security environment.

Dhaka Says Pact Discussions Progressing

Kobir made the remarks during a media briefing at the Foreign Ministry after meeting Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdullah Zafer bin Abiyah. He described the Mecca agreement as “a unique pact that presents new opportunities” and said Bangladesh was continuing consultations on the possibility of joining it.

“This is a unique pact that presents new opportunities,” Kobir told reporters. He said the discussions were “progressing positively with all bilateral partners”.

Kobir said Bangladesh needed to approach its foreign policy and security cooperation “in a highly integrated and flexible manner, aligned with the dynamics of the current international political system”.

“We will balance our international relations,” he said, adding that participation in one security framework would not prevent Bangladesh from engaging in other alliances or areas of cooperation.

“Entering into one specific sphere within today’s volatile or crisis-driven international political climate does not mean you cannot contribute to other alliances or fields. It does not restrict your scope,” he said.

Kobir also said the proposed pact was discussed during a series of bilateral meetings he held in Jeddah last week, including talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. According to Kobir, the response from his interlocutors was “positive, very positive”.

Bangladesh Calls Pact An Internal Muslim Family Matter

Earlier on Thursday, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman told Parliament that Dhaka viewed the agreement favourably and would consider joining if it received an invitation.

“We view this pact positively,” Rahman said, describing the defence treaty as an “internal matter of our family, the Muslim family”. He added that “there is no scope for others to be concerned about it”.

Responding to a separate question from a ruling Bangladesh nationalist Party lawmaker, Rahman credited Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s foreign policy with restoring Bangladesh’s international standing.

“Bangladesh will never bow its head to anyone again — we have buried the subservient foreign policy,” he said.

Rahman clarified that Bangladesh had not received a formal invitation to join the pact. However, he said that if the participating countries intended to include Dhaka, “we will certainly consider it positively”.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan And Turkiye Signed Pact

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on August 7 following the Mecca Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence at Al-Safa Palace in Mecca. The agreement came amid growing security concerns and escalating tensions in West Asia.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the pact.

A joint statement said the agreement was designed to strengthen collective deterrence against aggression. It also stated that an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be treated as an attack against all three.

India Closely Watching Developments

Bangladesh’s openness to joining the agreement has drawn attention in New Delhi. India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday that India was monitoring developments that could have implications for its security.

“We continue to closely follow all developments having a bearing on India’s security and take all necessary steps to safeguard it,” Jaiswal said.

Foreign policy experts and former diplomats have described Bangladesh’s willingness to consider joining the pact as a possible departure from its traditional policy of avoiding formal military alliances. They have also warned that such a move could have implications for Dhaka’s relations with neighbouring India.

Experts Divided Over Security Implications

Former ambassador and commentator Mahfuzur Rahman said the existing members of the pact were involved in, or could face, military confrontations with other countries, while Bangladesh had little likelihood of facing a similar 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.

Rahman warned that joining the agreement could potentially draw Bangladesh into a conflict without a direct justification, particularly because the pact contains provisions relating to collective security.

Former diplomat Humayun Kabir, who heads the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, said Dhaka had traditionally avoided military pacts and would need to assess whether the security interests of the agreement’s members aligned with Bangladesh’s own national interests.

“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.

Kabir said Bangladesh would also need to assess how the inclusion of particular countries could affect its security, economic interests and wider strategic priorities.

Supporters of joining the agreement have offered a different assessment, arguing that the pact could provide Bangladesh with greater strategic depth and strengthen its national security.

Retired military general Fazle Elahi Akbar, a former defence adviser to ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia who heads the Foundation for Strategic and Development Studies, said concerns that membership would automatically “drag us into war” amounted to an “overestimation of the risks”.

Bangladesh has not yet received a formal invitation to join the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. Its leadership, however, has made clear that Dhaka views the pact positively, while diplomats and analysts remain divided over how membership could reshape the country’s longstanding foreign and security policy.

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