Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan are set to sign a trilateral joint defence agreement on Friday in Jeddah, the Red Sea port city that serves as Saudi Arabia's commercial capital. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will convene for the signing, according to multiple sources close to the Saudi military and government. The pact formalises months of trilateral negotiations and comes against the backdrop of intensifying conflict in the region, including the ongoing war between the United States and Iran.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday evening, accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes Field Marshal Asim Munir — who holds both the title of Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff — along with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar. Erdogan is expected to arrive on Friday, according to the Turkish presidency. Pakistani Defence Production Minister Rana Hayat Hiraj had previously confirmed to Reuters that a draft of the trilateral agreement had been completed after roughly a year of negotiations, stressing that this new three-way pact is separate from the bilateral Saudi-Pakistani Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement announced in 2025, which came into force earlier this year.

The agreement has been under discussion for some time, but regional developments have accelerated its conclusion.