In a world of shifting alliances, Pakistan must balance strategic partnerships with national interests - and the key question is whether the Makkah Pact will become a tool of strategic autonomy or another form of dependence.

In recent years, the world has seen an unprecedented shift in global alliances. According to the realist school of thought, the global system is anarchic, with no overarching power that exists to regulate states’ behaviour. States’ survival instinct is rooted in self-help, as each state seeks to maximize its power and secure its national interests within an anarchic international system. Conversely, the liberal school preaches cooperation, shared values, and mutual gains. Although states increasingly frame their policies in liberal terms, their strategic behaviour remains largely rooted in realist calculations of power and national interest.

The Realist Logic Behind Pakistan’s Alliances

Over time, states have formed alliances based on strategic and economic interests. During the Cold War, Pakistan joined the US bloc, including the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), because of its economic and strategic needs. At that time, Pakistan strongly needed an ally against India, while the United States wanted regional allies against the Soviet Union. During the Soviet-Afghan war in 1979, Pakistan became the United States’ frontline proxy overnight, receiving immense financial and military aid. However, following the Cold War, the Pressler Amendment suspended US military assistance to Pakistan, exposing the fragility of interest-driven alliances.

China: Strategic Partnership or Mutual Interest?

Pakistan and China’s fraternity, celebrated as an “Ironclad friendship”, is also vulnerable under this phenomenon. The two countries have shared a stable alliance since 1951, strengthened by reciprocal benefits. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China provides Pakistan with diplomatic backing in international forums. Launched in 2015, CPEC represents a long-term investment of up to $62 billion in Pakistan, supporting the development of its energy sector, power generation, road infrastructure, and Gwadar Port.

However, Pakistan is undoubtedly being pressed under heavy interest and loan repayments. Beijing also provides technological support to Islamabad. The JF-17 Thunder demonstrates the depth of China-Pakistan defense cooperation. However, in international relations, all states act in their national interest. Beijing’s investment in Islamabad is not a one-sided generosity. Pakistan’s Gwadar Port offers China a shorter route to the Arabian Sea, bypassing the Strait of Malacca, reducing the travel time for its trade ships and minimizing trade costs from Africa and the Middle East.

The Makkah Pact and Pakistan’s Strategic Balancing

Contemporary geopolitical dynamics are increasingly shaped by alliances driven by economic and strategic interests. The Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, signed in August 2026 between Pakistan, Turkeyi, and Saudi Arabia, states that an armed attack against one signatory will be considered an attack on all three. This agreement is considered an extension of the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA), a bilateral defense pact signed between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The inclusion of Türkiye has strengthened the pact’s strategic scope, while its mutual-defense provision echoes the principle underlying NATO’s Article 5.

As a nuclear power, Pakistan brings significant strategic weight to the pact, complemented by its diplomatic and mediatory role. All three members share a distinct ideological and historical pattern. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia share historic, trustworthy relations. Saudi Arabia has long been providing Pakistan with energy support, trade, and economic assistance, while Pakistan has provided military personnel, training, and cooperation. Türkeyi and Pakistan have also built a relationship of mutual respect, exchanging training jets and warships and a military-technical alliance.

Saudi Arabia and Türkeyi have contradictory ideological notions about governance. After the Arab Spring, both nations faced profound disagreements following the Qatar Blockade in 2017, and the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018 strained bilateral relations. The recent reconciliation and alliance endorse the notion that in international relations there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests. Hence, it is apt to say that nations don’t choose friends or foes; they only pursue permanent interests.

After a recent war with its Eastern neighbour, Pakistan emerged as a strong military and diplomatic power and is playing a critical role in rewriting the rules of regional stability. Being an active NATO member, Türkeyi has added a secondary security shield of military deterrence by joining the Makkah Defense Agreement. This alliance emerged after the recent Middle Eastern security crisis, which proved the United States to be an unreliable ally. President Trump’s approach to NATO has weakened confidence in the alliance, encouraging Türkeyi to pursue alternative security arrangements.

Islamabad also seeks to enhance its regional standing, attract foreign direct investment, and expand its economic leverage through this defense agreement. The Makkah agreement has strategically made Islamabad a formal stakeholder in the Middle Eastern security architecture, expanded trade opportunities, and opened access to Gulf capital. Ankara brings technological advancement and support; Riyadh offers capital funding, and Islamabad brings geography, manufacturing capacity, and labour force.

The Cost of Dependence: From Alliances to Autonomy

However, this agreement could push Pakistan into foreign conflicts and future Middle Eastern confrontations that are dissociated from its national interests, resulting in civil-military imbalance and conflict entrapment. This agreement aligns the mutual benefits of all member states. However, for Pakistan, the key challenge is to materialize its commitments under this pact while maintaining an independent foreign policy regarding regional and global issues. Pakistan can turn this pact into an asset by enhancing its diplomatic role in regional conflicts and by pursuing its technological and economic interests.

The shifting nature of state partnerships can create significant economic consequences, often reinforcing boom-and-bust cycles. Islamabad’s economic structure is significantly influenced by foreign aid. Strategic alliances like the Makkah Pact often led to a sudden economic boom, but this foreign aid also strengthens external influence over a country’s decisions and policies. Moreover, this external dependence also makes the domestic economy fragile and undermines the foundations of sustainable growth. As a result, an economically weak country becomes politically unstable and structurally weak.

Almost every state around the globe follows the same pattern, strengthening the notion that states permanently follow national interests. This statement accurately describes Islamabad’s quest for alliances. Since its inception, Pakistan has been in alliance with the United States, while the latter has always treated it as its regional proxy. Indeed, alliances are part of international politics, as no nation can survive in isolation. Islamabad must learn from its history and avoid being a proxy of any regional or global power. It needs to strengthen its stature as a mediator on the global stage. Moreover, it needs to acknowledge that foreign aid cannot ensure economic growth.

Abbas Hashemite is a political observer and research analyst for regional and global geopolitical issues. He is currently working as an independent researcher and journalist. Courtesy

https://journal-neo.su/2026/10/11/no-permanent-allies-pakistan-and-the-politics-of-national-interest/