After Mecca, why Badr? Because this pact builds, not binds

Within hours of the ink drying in Doha, the label arrived: another “Muslim NATO.” It is the wrong label for the wrong agreement. On Wednesday, Turkiye, Qatar, Pakistan and Indonesia signed “Badr,” a defence-industry memorandum covering joint production, research and development, and military training. The defence ministers of Qatar, Pakistan and Turkiye signed it, with Indonesia represented by its deputy defence minister. It contains no mutual-defence clause. That is the clue. Mecca, signed on 7th August  by Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan, is the collective-defence pact, where an attack on one is an attack on all, and this month it was activated after Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Badr does something different. Mecca settles who stands with whom. Badr asks […]