Badr Memorandum: Pakistan’s Path to defense Self-Reliance

This world of colors and fragrances, whose master and controller man, the noblest of all creatures, claims to be, still runs on the supreme law of the jungle: might is right. The only difference is that in the jungle, the reins of power stayed firmly in the hands of the lion, and only the lion, for centuries, but in the jungle of humans, both the master and the slave keep trading places with the passage of time.
For centuries, the West and imperial rule held sway over billions of people, but today this balance of power appears to be swinging from the Global North toward the Global South, and this change is no longer limited only to trade, investment, and energy; rather, defense agreements, modern technology, defense production, regional cooperation, and new arrangements for collective security are also becoming part of it. The “Badr Memorandum of Understanding,” sealed among Pakistan, Qatar, Türkiye, and Indonesia in Doha on October 21, is a pivotal link in this changing landscape.
It is essential to understand the Badr Memorandum of Understanding in a context separate from the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement concluded among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye. Badr is not a defense agreement under which an attack on one country would be considered an attack on all participating countries; rather, its core focus is joint defense production, research and development, technical training, enhancement of industrial capacity, technology exchange, and self-reliance in the defense sector. According to Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, this partnership will open up new opportunities for joint research, training exchanges, enhancement of industrial capability, joint production, and technology transfer, and will even benefit the Makkah Defense Agreement and, with the passage of time, also become a means of achieving self-sufficiency in defense production.
Indeed, political resolve alone is not sufficient for any strong defense arrangement; stable logistics, modern technology, substantial investment, a trained workforce, and an effective defense industry are also necessary behind it. In this regard, the Badr Memorandum of Understanding carries particular weight because all four countries possess their own specific defense and economic capabilities. Türkiye has made rapid strides in unmanned combat aircraft, electronic defense equipment, missiles, armored vehicles, air defense, and naval systems. In 2025, Türkiye’s defense and aerospace exports reached approximately $10 billion. Turkish-made unmanned combat aircraft are being used by numerous countries around the world.
Pakistan also manufactures JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft, Super Mushshak trainer aircraft, missiles, ammunition, armored vehicles, and various ground and air defense systems. Pakistan’s defense industry has expanded its footprint in the export market in recent years; however, there remains ample room for further research, investment, and modern technology in this sector. The Badr Memorandum of Understanding may help bridge this gap and take Pakistan’s defense industry to new heights.
Indonesia is also not merely a buyer of defense equipment; rather, its industry possesses formidable capability in the production of aircraft, helicopters, naval vessels, and ground defense systems. Meanwhile, Qatar’s real strength lies in its vast financial resources, energy, trade, and investment. In September 2026, Qatar’s international reserves and foreign currency liquidity stood at approximately 262 billion Qatari riyals. Qatar is also among the world’s largest exporters of liquefied natural gas, and in 2025 its daily exports stood at approximately 10.6 billion cubic feet. Thus, Qatar can channel its financial strength into new defense and industrial activities.
In this new partnership, Pakistan’s defense experience, Türkiye’s rapidly developing military technology, Indonesia’s aerospace and naval industrial capability, and Qatar’s capital can reinforce one another. Yet the real success of the Badr Memorandum of Understanding will not be measured merely by signatures. The ultimate test will be how much investment comes in, how much practical work is carried out, how much technology is transferred, how many joint factories and research projects are established, and to what extent production targets are achieved.
This cooperation can also broaden the already existing trade ties. Trade between Pakistan and Qatar stood at approximately $3.25 billion in 2025, while bilateral trade between Pakistan and Indonesia reached approximately $4.5 billion. Trade between Türkiye and Indonesia in 2025 stood at approximately $2.55 billion, while trade between Pakistan and Türkiye was recorded at approximately $1.36 billion in 2024. Cooperation in the defense industry can become a springboard for further diversifying these trade relations and drawing in new investment.
By contrast, the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement concluded among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye on August 7, 2026, can be described as a much deeper security arrangement. According to the core clause of this agreement, an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all parties. This principle loosely echoes the collective defense principle of the North Atlantic defense alliance; however, there are significant differences between the two in terms of administrative structures, decision-making, geographical scope, and military systems. Along with collective defense, the Makkah Agreement also provides scope for cooperation in intelligence sharing, training, the defense industry, logistics, and other military fields.
Hence, the Makkah Defense Agreement and the Badr Memorandum of Understanding appear to go hand in hand rather than serve as alternatives to each other, and any defense agreement can become more effective only when participating countries have dependable local or regional sources for weapons, ammunition, repairs, logistics, and modern technology.
The importance of these agreements increases further at a time when the Middle East and the Gulf remain gripped by constant tension. Although large-scale fighting has been limited following the recent war between Iran and the United States and Israel’s direct involvement in it, a permanent political settlement remains elusive. Fundamental disputes such as Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz, and regional security still remain. According to reports that emerged in October, the possibility of new American or Israeli military action in Iran also remained, while the prospects of Israel taking action against Iran again have continued to fuel uncertainty in the region.
Elsewhere, tensions linked to Yemen and the Houthis have made Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea, the Strait of Hormuz, and the global flow of energy even more volatile. This shows that a single missile or a new military confrontation in the Gulf does not remain limited to the battlefield; rather, its effects ripple out to oil, gas, maritime trade, logistics, inflation, and the global economy. In such an environment, large and militarily stable countries such as Pakistan, Türkiye, and Indonesia can play a more effective role in establishing balance, dialogue, and security in the region.
The countries of the Middle East and Asia have long spent billions of dollars on defense equipment from Western countries. If, through agreements such as Badr, weapons, ammunition, naval systems, aviation technology, and other defense equipment begin to be jointly produced within the region, it can help cut import bills, develop local industry, and increase defense self-reliance. One vital dimension of this is employment, because Pakistan’s young population exceeds 120 million. If defense cooperation, instead of remaining limited merely to documents, extends to joint factories, research centers, aviation, shipbuilding, electronic equipment, ammunition, and the production of modern defense systems, new doors of employment can open for engineers, skilled workers, researchers, and technical experts.
Thus, the real yardstick for the success of the Makkah Defense Agreement and the Badr Memorandum of Understanding should not be whether they create more fear and an atmosphere of war in the region, but rather whether they create a greater sense of security, stronger local industry, new investment, employment, and regional stability. If defense self-reliance and collective strength are advanced with wisdom, diplomacy, and economic cooperation, these agreements can lower the odds of war instead of opening new fronts. In a region that has for decades paid a heavy price for wars, dependence on foreign weapons, and insecurity, perhaps the greatest success of these two agreements would be that an increase in strength, instead of deepening the fear of war, strengthens confidence in peace through the power of strength.