Bangladesh to 'positively' consider joining Makkah pact if invited: foreign minister

Bangladesh would consider joining the Makkah Pact “positively” if invited by founding members, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman told parliament on Thursday.

“Joining the pact or not has not come yet, as it is subjected to the intention of the parties involved in the pact. If they invite Bangladesh to join, then we will definitely consider it positively,” the foreign minister said, assuring parliament that Dhaka would assess the potential benefits before making any decision to join.

“More importantly, we have to keep in mind that it [the Makkah Pact] is the Muslim world’s self-defence mechanism,” he added. “And this is our family’s, the Muslim family’s, internal matter. So, there is nothing for others to be concerned about.”

Separately, opposition leader and Bangladesh Jamaat-i-Islami Ameer (chief) Shafiqur Rahman said on Thursday that joining the Makkah Pact was Bangladesh’s “own decision.”

“If Bangladesh takes a decision in the interests and needs of the country and nation, no one else needs to worry about it,” he said in a statement on Facebook.

Earlier this week, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir said Dhaka had expressed interest in joining the pact.

“If there is one [agreement] in West Asia, if there is a security agreement between Islamic countries, then it is not unusual to go there. Let’s see. The matter is being viewed positively,” said Kabir.

​​​​​​​Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed the joint defence agreement at a trilateral summit in Makkah on August 7, pledging to strengthen collective security, deepen defence cooperation and promote peace and stability in the region and beyond.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during the summit at Al-Safa Palace.

The tripartite pact empowers member states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them, and reflects their “shared commitment to further strengthening their collective security and to promoting peace, security, and stability in the region and beyond, in pursuit of a secure and prosperous future”.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had already signed the “Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement” in Riyadh last September, pledging that any attack on either nation would be treated as an act of aggression against both.

In January, Reuters quoted Defence Production Minister Raza Hayat Harraj as saying that a draft had been prepared after 10 months of talks. Turkish FM Hakan Fidan had said Ankara favoured an “inclusive platform that creates wider, bigger cooperation and stability”.

The pact has been welcomed by the United States, Bahrain and Somalia, with Turkiye expecting Egypt to join the pact “in the next stage”.