Pakistan, Turkiye, Qatar and Indonesia signed a defence agreement in Doha on Wednesday called the 'Badr Memorandum of Understanding', according to a Reuters report published by Geo News. The Turkish Defence Ministry announced the signing in a statement.
Who signed
Pakistan was represented by Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif. Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman bin Hasan Al Thani, and Indonesian Deputy Defence Minister Yusuf Jauhari signed for their countries.
What the accord covers
According to the Turkish ministry, the accord will foster cooperation in military production, boost military capabilities and support collaboration in technical military training and research and development. The ministry said the agreement also carries substantial economic importance.
By drawing on each country's own defence manufacturing strengths, the statement said, the initiative will ease integration, expand defence industrial capacity and help meet the needs of allied and friendly nations.
Regional backdrop
Reuters noted that Turkiye, which has NATO's second-largest army and a strong defence industry, has been helping Gulf states including Qatar, where it has a military base, strengthen their defences amid the US-Israeli war against Iran.
In August, Turkiye signed a mutual defence pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia under which an attack on one party is treated as an attack on all. Ankara also has close defence-industry ties with Indonesia.