Three Flags, One Shield: Inside The Makkah PactBorn from doubts about US protection after Iranian strikes went unanswered, and Yemen's collapsing truce, the Makkah Pact between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye reshapes regional alignments - unsettling Iran, unnerving Israel, and drawing wary attention from India amid a related disinformation flare-upOn August 7, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, an "Islamic NATO" - style mutual-defence pact, in Islam's holiest city rather than any capital. Choosing Makkah over Riyadh, Ankara or Islamabad was itself a message, and arguably as deliberate as any clause in the text. The regional order it signalsWhat the Makkah pact really represents is less a military alliance than a statement of diminished faith - in the United States as reliable guarantor, and in existing regional architecture generally. Hours after the Makkah signing, a Turkish outlet's report - citing unnamed Pakistani sources - claimed India had approached Israel seeking its own defence pact in response. What comes nextThe Makkah pact does not, by itself, remake the Middle East.