LAHORE: A conference on Thursday examined the strategic implications of the newly formed “Makkah Joint Defence Alliance”.
According to a press release, the landmark event convened top political, diplomatic, military, academic, and media leaders to assess the evolving security dynamics of the Middle East and South Asia, focusing closely on how the tri-nation agreement will impact regional peace, stability, and economic cooperation amid rapid geopolitical shifts.
The University of Lahore (UOL) hosted the conference.
In his inaugural address, Federal Minister Prof. Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry said the most consequential contests of the 21st century would be decided not by military power alone but also in universities, laboratories, technology centres, financial markets and factories.
He highlighted that the international order was passing through an interregnum between a receding unipolar moment and a multipolar order yet to fully take shape, noting that the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed on 7 August 2026 in Makkah al-Mukarramah by Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reflected this changing geometry of power and was an arrangement for collective deterrence rather than aggression.
Chief guest, Speaker, Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan during second session stated that the pact should deliver peace to the region through deterrence, describing it as a message of strength and unity among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye. He also appreciated UOL for its continued efforts in organizing impactful academic activities, recalling the earlier Governance Conference as a notable example of the university’s commitment to meaningful dialogue and institutional development.
While delivering the keynote addresses, Mian Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, former Foreign Minister observed that the Makkah pact reflected the sentiments of the wider Muslim world and the ordinary people of Cairo, Jeddah, Lahore, Karachi, Ankara and Istanbul, describing it as an arrangement of deterrence for the integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan, KSA and Turkiye.
Talking as panelist Lieutenant General (Retd) Nasir Janjua (Former National Security Advisor) expressed that the global balance of power was shifting, with the rising influence of Russia, China and the Muslim world set against a relative decline of the United States, and called for greater regional unity as the basis of stability.
Stressing the diplomatic significance of the agreement, Jalil Abbas Jilani,Former Foreign Secretary shared that the pact reflected the diplomatic achievements made under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and that it should be understood in the context of the evolving strategic environment in the Middle East,
During the first roundtable, “Middle Powers and the Making of a New Regional Security Architecture”, participants shared perspectives on Pakistan’s position as what commentators have described as a “prisoner of geography,” bordered by historically adversarial relations with India and Afghanistan, and on the Makkah accord as offering Pakistan a route toward greater engagement with the Middle East. The second roundtable, “Geo-Strategic and Economic Dividends”, examined the agreement’s potential to expand Pakistan’s strategic engagement beyond traditional regional constraints, strengthen economic and technological cooperation among Pakistan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, create opportunities for investment, connectivity and joint defence production, and translate the three countries’ complementary economic, technological, human and strategic capabilities into a broader regional framework for security and development.
The discussions featured Lieutenant General (Rtd) Sikandar Afzal, , Brigadier (Rtd) Nadir Mir, , Brigadier (Rtd) Imran Malik, Brigadier (Rtd) Ghazanfar Ali, Air Commodore (retd) Khalid Chishti, Sohail Warraich, Senior Journalist, Mahmood Moulvi, former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister), Serdar Demirel (Turkish Scholar), Allama Tahir Ashrafi (Chairman, Ulema Council), Ms. Sehar Kamran MNA (Patron-in-Chief, Centre for Pakistan and Gulf Studies), Tanweer Ahmed (Pakistani-American Businessman), Haroon-ur-Rashid (President, Supreme Court Bar Association), Ahmed Bilal Mehboob (President, PILDAT), Major General (retd) Zahid Mahmood, Ambassador Mansoor Ahmad Khan, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif (Ex Advisor, CM KPK), Faheem-ur-Rehman Saigol (President, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Ambassador Haroon Shaukat, Dr Khalid Ranjha (Ex Federal Law Minister), Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary (Coordinator General, COMSTECH), Lieutenant General (retd) Ghulam Mustafa, Senator Ali Zafar (Parliamentary Leader Senate, PTI), Prof. Dr. Halil Toker (Dean, Istanbul University), Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry (Former Foreign Secretary), Fawad Chaudhry (Former Federal Minister), Ambassador Zamir Akram Raza Bashir Tarar (Former Ambassador), Imran Ismail (Former Governor Sindh), Pir Muhammad Masood Chishti (Vice Chairman, Pakistan Bar Council), Farrukh Shahbaz Warraich (Senior Anchor), and Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Rashid (Religious Scholar).
