Joining Mecca Pact could draw Bangladesh into wider regional conflict: Report

Dhaka, Sep 1 (AHN) Bangladesh needs to maintain strong and balanced relations with all countries in the Gulf and beyond, a task that could become increasingly difficult if Dhaka joins the Mecca Agreement involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, a report has warned.

Such a move would undoubtedly find support among extreme right-wing voices, who could view it as an opportunity to gain strategic leverage over India. However, whether becoming militarily entangled in the volatile and rapidly shifting geopolitics of West Asia would serve Dhaka’s interests — or align with the government’s repeatedly emphasised “Bangladesh First” policy — remains debatable, according to a report in Bangladeshi media outlet 'BDNews 24'.

"Speculation over Bangladesh possibly joining the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement or MJDA began around Aug 17, when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman invited Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to visit the Arabian kingdom. Just 10 days earlier, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan had signed the MJDA, signalling a shift away from the decades-old US-centric defence alignment in the region," the report stated.

By declaring that an attack on one member constitutes an attack on all, the agreement creates the possibility of a wider confrontation should any member be attacked. In practice, however, such high-sounding commitments are easier said than done and tend to serve as instruments of deterrence rather than "a blueprint for Armageddon", it stated

"For Dhaka, making such a commitment, which could, theoretically, include joining an India-Pakistan war which had nothing to do with Bangladesh, would certainly require a great deal more thinking than has taken place so far," the BDNews24 report stressed.

According to the report, the crucial question of how the Mecca Pact would serve Dhaka’s interests appears to have received little attention. Bangladesh’s recently elevated State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Humayun Kobir, said at a press conference that the government was viewing the prospect “positively”, without explaining what aspects of the pact it considered “positive.”

“Jettisoning the traditional non-alignment in foreign and defence policy, in favour of an alliance that could embroil Bangladesh in conflicts Dhaka cannot influence, let alone control, would be a very big deal indeed,” it mentioned.

Meanwhile, a report in Daily Sun noted that ASEAN’s strategic community is closely watching Bangladesh’s stated interest in joining the pact, amid rising global tensions, heightened uncertainty in trade and security, and recalibration of established alliances.

It highlighted that Bangladesh faces similar geopolitical challenges and could seek strategic autonomy by maintaining diverse economic and defence partnerships without committing to formal military alliances that could constrain its diplomatic flexibility, draw it into external rivalries or hamper its economic development.

“The recently announced Mecca Joint Defence Pact raises an important question for Bangladesh: whether closer political and defence relations should extend to a formal collective-security commitment. The central issue is not diplomatic symbolism, but whether membership could constrain Bangladesh’s economic choices, unsettle key partners and expose a trade-dependent economy to avoidable costs,” the report detailed.