Makkah Agreement

Spin doctors in the Modi establishment are trying hard to play down the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan, signed in Makkah in Saudi Arabia on August 7. The pact builds on the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on September 17, 2025, expanding it to include Turkiye. Far from acknowledging the issue on hand, the Narendra Modi government just want to look the other way. Claiming such defence pacts do not mean much and describing it as inconsequential and premature, these spin doctors are now in denial mode. On the other hand, implications for India are unmissable. The writing on the wall is clear: Operation Sindoor 2.0 is now impossible. One obvious fact, sought to be conveniently overlooked by the Modi establishment, is that the “ghar mein ghus ke maarenge (we will strike them right inside their safe havens)” rhetoric will now necessarily be a thing of the past. Having burnt all its bridges, both in West Asia and South Asia, the Modi government stares at wider isolation in the entire region. The Makkah pact assumes significance in the backdrop of the Modi government's unflattering foreign policy record recently. It made a departure from India's Palestine policy, which is glaring. Similarly, it stood openly with Israel and the United States during the war against Iran. Even the token courtesy of signing the condolence register at the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi was given a go-by, finally delegated down to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, what was essentially the prerogative of Prime Minister Modi, given that the deceased was assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Sonia Gandhi on moral voice Interestingly, Prime Minister Modi's actions appear more as an abdication of duty than as taking a position of neutrality. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had sage advice for the PM. Writing in The Indian Express on March 3, days after the assassination, she warned that when the targeted killing of a foreign leader draws "no clear defence of sovereignty or international law" from India, "it raises serious doubts about the direction and credibility of our foreign policy." The op-ed was pointedly titled "Government's silence on killing of Iran leader is not neutral, it is abdication." Modi became an onlooker as his trusted friend, US President Donald Trump, turned to Pakistan instead of him. Trump went to the unprecedented extent of hosting Pakistan's Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir at the White House. Pakistan surged ahead, positioning itself as a peace broker in West Asia. This is the role PM Modi would have fancied for himself, as he tried to during the Ukraine-Russia war. On the face of it, the claim by the Modi establishment's spin doctors that the Makkah pact has no implications for India appears to be naive. Turkiye and China aided and assisted Pakistan as recently as during Operation Sindoor, even without any defence agreement obligations. Now, to claim the Makkah Pact is essentially West Asia-centric and has no impact on India-Pakistan relations appears too convenient to be credible. The United States has openly backed Pakistan, right from the Nixon administration down to the Trump administration. The Nixon administration moved the US Seventh Fleet into the Bay of Bengal in December 1971, in a bid to browbeat Indira Gandhi during the Bangladesh Liberation War. During Operation Sindoor, the Trump administration claimed it had compelled the cessation of hostilities by forcing a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, a claim Trump kept repeating despite New Delhi's denials, including the Prime Minister's own statement in Parliament that no world leader had asked India to stop. US backing All three signatories to the Makkah pact – Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan – are pro-United States. The Trump administration is clearly encouraging local military blocs, as it does not want to get entangled further. What has been made public is the declaration that an armed attack against any one of the three countries shall be regarded as an attack against all of them. What has not yet been revealed is the organisational structure. It envisages a framework for closer military ties, joint military exercises, intelligence-sharing, operational planning and technology transfers, besides joint production of military hardware. It is rather too early for the spin doctors to jump to such hasty conclusions. This is not something new that has happened overnight. Pakistan and Turkiye were with the United States military blocs. While Turkiye was part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during the Cold War era, Pakistan joined the South-East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in 1954 and the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) in 1955. Indira, Rajiv Gandhi shore up ties A steadfast supporter of the Palestinian cause, Indira Gandhi had the delicate task of shoring up India's ties with West Asia. During the oil crisis of 1973, Indira Gandhi focussed on setting up projects, giving technology and skills to Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members in lieu of payment for oil imports. In April 1974, Indira Gandhi's meeting with the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in Tehran, proved to be landmark. Easing tensions lingering from the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, when Iran sided with Pakistan, Indira Gandhi stabilised bilateral relations, securing massive economic and crude oil supply agreements when the world was reeling under an oil shock. Similarly, during her visit to Saudi Arabia in April 1982, Indira Gandhi was received warmly by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Fahd and the top Saudi leadership in Jeddah and Riyadh. The visit helped lay the foundation for future economic and energy cooperation with Saudi Arabia. Indira Gandhi with Saudi Crown Prince Fahd in Saudi Arabia in 1982. During Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's tenure, India-Turkiye relations witnessed a remarkable upswing. Though a member of NATO, Turkiye did warm up to India, notwithstanding its pro-Western leanings. Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Özal travelled to India in 1986, marking a step in rebuilding ties. Both countries agreed to establish defence attaché offices in their respective capitals. Rajiv Gandhi reciprocated with an official visit to Turkiye in 1988, aiming to inject fresh momentum into bilateral relations. PV Narasimha Rao's feat Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's historic visit to India in April 1995, during the tenure of Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, brought about a paradigm shift in India-Iran relations, the first since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Close on the heels of the Babri Masjid demolition on December 6, 1992, Rafsanjani's visit to the Bara Imambara in Lucknow proved a landmark. Addressing a large gathering at the monument, the Iranian leader declared that Indian Muslims were safe under the country's secular framework. Rafsanjani's visit proved to be a high point in India-Iran relations, as it helped boost bilateral ties through a neutral positioning on issues like Kashmir. P V Narasimha Rao with Iranian leader Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in New Delhi in 1995. Decades of good work done over a sustained period have just been frittered away by the Modi government. As poet Muzaffar Razmi has it: “Yeh jabr bhi dekha hai taareekh ki nazron ne / Lamhon ne khata ki thi, sadiyon ne saza paayi (A wrong decision made in a moment of folly can result in suffering and consequences that last for generations, or centuries.”

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