'Bangladesh could benefit from joining Mecca Pact but needs diplomatic preparation’: Prof Shahab Enam Khan

Bangladesh could benefit from joining the Mecca Pact if offered membership, but Dhaka should enter any such arrangement with clear limits on its military commitments, strong diplomatic preparation and domestic political consensus, international relations expert Shahab Enam Khan has said.

Shahab, a professor of International Relations at Jahangirnagar University, made the remarks Tuesday during a program on the Mecca Pact organized by Voice for Reform.

“I am not saying that we should not join. If we are offered membership, certainly,” Shahab said, arguing that Bangladesh would still have considerable room to determine the extent and nature of its engagement.

He said discussions around collective defense arrangements often focus on NATO’s Article 5, but stressed that the provision does not automatically require every member to go to war.

“It does not automatically commit anyone to fight and allows everyone to make their own decision,” he said, adding that NATO’s Article 4 provides for consultation before Article 5 comes into play.

Even under Article 5, he said, the nature of individual countries’ commitments remains discretionary.

Shahab also pointed to Article 51 of the UN Charter, describing it as a “preservation clause” rather than an “authorization clause.”

Under Article 51, he said, collective self-defense becomes relevant after an armed attack has occurred.

For Bangladesh, a central question would be how much military capacity it could realistically commit to the Pact.

“If Bangladesh is told, ‘Now give me the highest possible military resources,’ I think that would be structurally very demanding for Bangladesh; it would not be possible,” he said.

Bangladesh could instead contribute resources beyond what it requires for its own national security, with human resources likely to be its strongest contribution, Shahab said.

He cited Bangladesh’s participation in the Saudi-led Islamic military counterterrorism coalition, where its role was focused on human resources and technical capacity rather than armaments.

Shahab said Bangladesh also stood to gain from deeper defense cooperation because it has already diversified its military procurement and relationships across Türkiye, China, Russia and, increasingly, the United States.

“Bangladesh does not really have much to lose here; rather, there is a possibility that it could benefit,” he said.

He identified diplomacy, however, as one of Dhaka’s biggest challenges.

Bangladesh cannot assess the Pact solely through its relationship with Saudi Arabia, Shahab said, pointing to its LNG ties with Qatar and extensive trade and commercial relations with the United Arab Emirates.

“The success of this entire process — the process of joining — will depend largely on the extent of our diplomatic capacity and whether we can use that capacity to negotiate properly with the other Gulf countries,” he said.

Another major question is military interoperability.

Shahab said the armed forces involved in the emerging arrangement do not yet have full interoperability, although cooperation around Türkiye’s KAAN fighter program could potentially create common platforms, avionics and eventually electronic warfare capabilities.

He said the wider strategic equation would also be shaped by Israel, the Abraham Accords and the longstanding security relationships between Gulf and Arab states and the West.

Military systems in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan remain heavily interoperable with NATO, meaning the creation of an alternative defense architecture would take considerable time, he said.

For Bangladesh, Shahab argued, the issue should ultimately be judged against its own security requirements rather than the concerns of other regional powers.

“We have our own problems centred on the Bay of Bengal. We have problems concerning Myanmar. We frequently see instability in neighbouring countries, and that could have spillover effects,” he said.

Regional organizations such as SAARC and BIMSTEC have also failed to provide collective security, he added.

Shahab also suggested that India could seek observer status in the Mecca Pact if New Delhi has concerns about the emerging arrangement, pointing to Bangladesh’s previous support for greater Indian engagement with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

“If there is so much concern, then even if full membership is not possible, India could seek observer status,” he said.

Shahab said Bangladesh should therefore remain open to joining the Pact, but only after assessing its military capacity, diplomatic relationships and domestic political considerations.

“If Bangladesh can join the Mecca Pact, that would be good,” he said. “But keeping these concerns in mind, if we approach it with effective diplomatic preparation and political consensus, it would definitely be beneficial for Bangladesh.”

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