- 4 hours ago
Saudi Arabia has activated the Mecca (Makkah) Joint Defence Agreement with Türkiye and Pakistan — turning a recently signed pact into an operational security framework at a critical moment for the Middle East. The move comes amid escalating Houthi attacks, intensifying fighting along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and a reported strike on power infrastructure in Medina that temporarily disrupted supplies serving the outer perimeter of the Prophet’s Mosque.
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00:07can America still call it a trade negotiation when tariffs are being used as pressure and can
00:13a defense pact stay on paper once missiles start hitting the region today two stories about power
00:20and what happens when countries decide they have had enough of being pushed around India's telling
00:26Washington negotiate don't weaponize trade and tariff nirmala sitaraman says the talks have hit
00:32a plateau and New Delhi is making it clear that Russian oil farmers and economic sovereignty are
00:38not bargaining chips and then shift your gaze west Saudi Arabia Turkey and Pakistan are turning the
00:45Mecca pact into a real security arrangement with military deployments and air defense cooperation
00:51one story is about resisting pressure the other is about building power one asks how far America can
00:58push India the other asks how far this new alliance can really go hello and welcome you're watching
01:05Statecraft with Migita Mohan a chilling new claim has emerged from last week's fly Dubai cockpit attack
01:11investigators reportedly believe the Omani co-pilot wanted revenge for Gaza according to reports
01:17Hamam al-Hamami told the UA interrogators his alleged plan was far more calculated than a sudden attack
01:24according to the report al-Hamami intended to incapacitate the captain keep the flight operating
01:31normally secure necessary landing clearances and then crash the aircraft into an airport facility or
01:37another plane on the ground that investigators reportedly believe could explain why he waited until the aircraft
01:45had crossed Jordanian airspace before attacking the cockpit but the plan unraveled Indian captain
01:52Smith Machar despite being assaulted and stabbed managed to open the cockpit door Israeli passengers then overpowered and
01:59restrained the attacker while another passenger helped stabilize the aircraft two off-duty pilots eventually took control
02:06more than 170 people were on board most of them Israelis Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described
02:14the suspect as having undergone Islamist radical indoctrination and accused him of trying to crash the aircraft
02:20but another question is now drawing attention Iran US President Donald Trump said he personally believes Tehran was behind the
02:28September 30th incident I'm very easily to a place that show far away and on fly Dubai you think Iran
02:35was responsible
02:35to that perish I do I personally do however Vice President JD Vance has urged caution saying there is currently
02:43no conclusive
02:43evidence linking Iran to the attack I think the interesting thing about that story is we knew that guy was
02:49a problem that meaning not United States
02:51intelligence but if you look historically that person should not have been flying an airline and so we're certainly
02:57looking at our procedures within the United States to make sure that people who are obviously flight risks are not
03:03getting
03:03behind the will of an airplane but I feel good about what's going on in the United States of America
03:08in terms of involvement
03:09with Iran that's something I defer to John Ratcliffe and some of the intelligence folks on I don't want to
03:14get ahead of any
03:15announcements there but it's certainly something we're looking at but I wouldn't say I've seen anything
03:18inclusive just yet so was this an individual act of extremism or was there something more behind it that
03:25remains under investigation is America negotiating with India or bullying India into signing on the dotted
03:32line in an exclusive conversation that I had at the Munich Security Conference leaders meeting in New Delhi
03:37Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman gave us the answer in blunt terms she said India US trade talks have hit a
03:46plateau a point where giving or taking has become very very difficult and she had an even sharper
03:52message on tariffs saying they've become weaponized to address America's trade imbalance so is Washington
03:59negotiating with India or trying to pressure India into a deal on Washington's terms Washington says
04:06the problem is the trade imbalance India says that imbalance should be tackled through negotiation market
04:12access and reciprocal concessions not tariff pressure and this is not just a theoretical argument
04:18Sitaraman told India today global the tariffs were once an instrument of negotiation but now the imbalance
04:25is being addressed through other means where tariffs have become weaponized one thing about the US
04:32the US agreement which is yet to get finalized it's been a hard and very rigorously negotiated agreement the agreements
04:45negotiations
04:45are still ongoing although we'd like to believe that both the sides have reached a plateau beyond which giving
04:53trading or taking might be very very difficult but maybe if there are room if there are rooms to operate
05:02from both sides would do it but what is the predominant feature of the trade relations between India and US
05:16the trade balance is very much in our favor
05:21naturally the deficit is there in their side or the balance is going unfavorably for the US
05:28in simple terms you want to fix the gap sit across the table and bargain do not turn the table
05:35into a weapon
05:36US trade representative Jameson Greer has also said the deal is not imminent even though both sides have
05:42reached the final stage so the talks continue but the easy give and take appears to have run out
05:48then comes the question Washington would probably rather keep off the trade table
05:53why is India's Russian oil suddenly America's business India buys Russian crude because it serves
06:00India's energy interests but New Delhi says that should not become a bargaining chip in a trade agreement
06:06and this is where Sitaraman drew a very sharp contrast with Europe asked whether Russian oil had become
06:13a determining factor in India's trade talks with the EU she made one point very clearly in Europe as much
06:20as I understand till today there is no Lindsey Graham bill it's not sitting at the negotiating table
06:25but still I can tell you but a lot of things gets discussed formally informally
06:33post the negotiation pre the negotiation
06:40in Europe as much as I understand till today there is no Lindsey Graham bill
06:46that is not a throwaway line the US legislation could allow tariffs of up to 100% on goods from
06:52major buyers of Russian oil or gas
06:55Europe has no equivalent legal instrument being used as a hard condition in these trade talks
07:00so India's point is simple why should its energy choices become a formal lever in one trade negotiation
07:07when they are not being treated that way in another and that leads to the next question why does America
07:14want
07:15India to open its markets while protecting its own India is willing to negotiate market access but the remaining
07:22issues are not small ones agriculture and dairy touch farmer interests other demands affect
07:28sensitive sectors and India's economic sovereignty India wants meaningful tariff advantages for its
07:34exports while differences remain over tariffs market access and non-tariff barriers so what exactly is the
07:41problem India is not saying no to trade it is saying no to a deal where the price of
07:47entry keeps rising after every round of negotiation that is a very different thing but if trade deficits
07:53are such a crisis why is America looking so closely at India Sitaraman pointed to China
08:00India's trade imbalance with China has grown exponentially since 2014
08:04I would think that is the way in which the US would look at China or India would look at
08:10China
08:10the trade imbalance the trade imbalance with China for India for instance since 2014 has been growing
08:19exponentially so when you're talking of trade and trade imbalance being the sole criteria to reduce the imbalance
08:30to what extent beyond negotiation can you go
08:36negotiation used to be the only platform through which countries could highlight the discrepancies
08:43highlight the lopsidedness and say would we want to correct this and how would you correct
08:49it because you have demand in your country I can supply so open up on that I can open up
08:55on something so
08:55that some of your goods can come to me that was how negotiations went her point is simple if large
09:03trade gaps can grow without the tariff pressure Washington now puts on India then tariffs cannot
09:09be the whole answer a deficit is just a number it does not explain why that number exists so India
09:16wants to address the imbalance through talks better market access and fair concessions not simply by
09:22putting a higher tariff on the problem has Washington miscalculated India's willingness to be pressured
09:28India still wants deeper economic ties with the US the February 2026 framework aimed for a bilateral trade
09:35agreement but India also has other relationships Europe Russia the Gulf bricks and the wider global south that
09:43does not mean India wants to walk away from Washington it means India does not want one relationship to decide
09:50every other economic choice New Delhi wants trade with America but not trade on terms that turn strategic
09:57autonomy into another bargaining chip and that brings us to the simplest question of all has America
10:03forgotten that India can say no Sitaraman's message was clear India is willing to negotiate it is willing to
10:10discuss market access it is even willing to make concessions where there is a reciprocal gain but farmers sensitive
10:18sectors sovereignty and energy choices are not blank checks the talks have hit a plateau because the easy
10:26concessions are largely gone and the hard ones are left so the answer is clear this is still a trade
10:32negotiation
10:33but India refuses to let tariffs turn it into a pressure campaign Washington can push India can bargain and if
10:40the price gets too high India can simply say no deal yet a suspected plague case in Russia has triggered
10:47concern
10:48after a researcher Daria Shipilova an employee at the Irkutsk Anti-plague Research Institute of Siberia and the
10:56Far East died from severe pneumonia Russian authorities say the cause of death was pneumonia of undetermined
11:03origin while local reports have linked it to pneumonic plague the world health organization says testing is
11:10still underway and here is the key point there is no confirmed outbreak nearly 200 people who may have
11:16had contact with the woman were reportedly placed under medical observation so far WHO says none have shown
11:23symptoms Russian authorities also say checks at the institute found no emergency situation but why is everyone
11:30paying attention because pneumonic plague can spread through respiratory droplets and unlike the more
11:36familiar bubonic form can pass from person to person without treatment it can become deadly very quickly the good
11:44news however is that plague can be treated with antibiotics when doctors catch it early there are also
11:51questions about how the researcher became infected unconfirmed reports suggest she may have had contact with the
11:57bacteria at work or may have visited an area where plague naturally exists among wild rodents authorities
12:04have not confirmed either explanation US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington is watching the
12:10situation closely but says there is no reason for panic or alarm President Donald Trump has also said
12:16the US will help if necessary for now the message from health officials is clear this is a serious case
12:23but not a
12:24confirmed public outbreak the plague never disappeared what matters now is whether this remains one isolated
12:31death or become something much bigger the Mecca pact is no longer just a treaty on paper Saudi Arabia
12:38Turkey and Pakistan have now moved to activate their collective defense mechanism and the timing is significant
12:45an emergency meeting in Riyadh has triggered plans for rapid military deployments air defense cooperation
12:51and intelligence sharing inside Saudi Arabia but why now the answer lies in a rapidly escalating conflict
12:58around the Arabian Peninsula Houthi attacks Saudi military operations in Yemen threats to critical infrastructure
13:05and most importantly an attack on a power facility linked to one of Islam's holiest sites so what exactly
13:13has Saudi Arabia activated and why have Turkey and Pakistan been pulled directly into the kingdom's defense
13:20architecture is this the beginning of a new Muslim majority security alliance in the region let's start
13:28with what happened in Riyadh on the 5th of October Saudi Arabia Turkey and Pakistan held an emergency meeting
13:33under the Mecca joint defense agreement and this was not just another diplomatic meeting the three countries
13:39agreed to move immediately towards practical implementation of their mutual defense commitments that means
13:46rapid deployment of agreed military forces and defensive capabilities to Saudi Arabia the pact itself was
13:52signed in Mecca on the 7th of August by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Turkish President Recep Tayyip
13:59Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif it states that an armed attack against one member will be
14:06regarded as an attack against all three but what triggered the activation the immediate flash
14:12point is Yemen on the 1st of October Houthi forces launched a strike against a high voltage power
14:19distribution facility in Medina Saudi Arabia says air defense systems intercepted several incoming threats
14:26but the facility was damaged and power supplies serving the outer perimeter of the prophet's mosque were
14:32temporarily disrupted that changed the stakes because this was not simply another attack on Saudi
14:39infrastructure the facility was linked to al-Masjid al-Nabawi the prophet's mosque Islam's second holiest
14:47site and Saudi Arabia is now facing a wider military challenge along Yemen's red sea coastline
14:53Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces have launched a major counter-offensive against the Houthis
14:58the fighting has intensified around mocha or mocha and the strategic babal mandat strait and babal
15:05mandat matters far beyond Yemen it is one of the world's most important maritime choke points connecting
15:13the red sea with the Gulf of Aden and serving as a major route for global trade and energy shipments
15:19the military escalation has brought retaliatory houthi drone and missile attacks directed towards
15:25Saudi territory that is the environment in which the mecca pact has now been activated so what exactly
15:31did the three countries agree to first Pakistan and Turkey will rapidly deploy agreed military units and
15:38defensive equipment to designated locations inside Saudi Arabia second a permanent secretariat of the
15:46alliance is being established in Riyadh and third the three countries will integrate radar early warning
15:52systems and anti-drone capabilities across Saudi airspace the gulf and the red sea region specific
16:00troop numbers have not been made public but initial focus is expected to be defensive which is air
16:06defense counter-drone warfare missile interception and protection of critical infrastructure and this
16:12is where the three countries bring very different capabilities to the table Saudi Arabia brings geography
16:18military infrastructure air bases and significant defense spending its armed forces operate advanced
16:25western supplied aircraft and air defense systems turkey brings a large military extensive operational
16:31experience and a powerful domestic defense industry turkish drones electronic warfare systems and air
16:38defense platforms could become particularly important against the drones and missiles used by the houthis
16:44Pakistan brings something different a large standing military and decades of defense cooperation with
16:51Saudi Arabia Pakistani military personnel have maintained a presence in the kingdom for generations and
16:57Pakistan is also the only nuclear armed state among the three but there's one uncomfortable truth
17:04about the mecca alliance for all the headlines surrounding it the alliance has so far been largely a paper
17:10a tiger the pact was signed in august now after the latest escalation it is being activated but activation on
17:18paper is not the same thing as fighting a war together and when the stakes rise there is no automatic
17:24guarantee that Pakistan will commit its forces to a direct conflict on Saudi Arabia's behalf
17:30now coming to Pakistan Islamabad has repeatedly described Saudi security as important to Pakistan
17:36Pakistan but Pakistan has also historically been cautious about being dragged into West Asian conflicts that was visible during the
17:44Yemen war when Saudi Arabia sought Pakistani military support for its campaign against the houthis in 2015 Pakistan's parliament rejected
17:52a request to join the military intervention because the mecca pact may promise collective defense but treaties do not fight
18:01wars governments do and governments make calculations
18:05Pakistan Pakistan has Pakistan has Pakistan has its own security priorities its own borders its own economic pressures and now
18:11the biggest question is where does this go from here the united nations has urged restraint and a return to
18:17political dialogue as fighting intensifies in Yemen and the red sea
18:21Washington is also watching the deployment closely Iran aligned voices have criticized the move arguing that the arrival of additional
18:29forces could further escalate the conflict for Saudi Arabia however
18:33calculation appears to be about deterrence and protection for Turkey and Pakistan it is about turning long-standing strategic partnerships
18:42with Riyadh into a formal collective defense structure and for the wider region the Mecca pact could mark an important
18:50shift from security guaranteed primarily by outside powers to a more active regionally organized defense architecture the pack was born
18:59in Mecca but its real test has now begun in Riyadh
19:03Pakistan Pakistan is bracing for a fresh political showdown as thousands of supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan
19:09marched towards Islamabad demanding his immediate release the long march began Sunday in Khyber Pak Thunkwa a stronghold of Khan's
19:18Pakistan Tehri Ke Ansaf Party PTI leaders say protesters will make several stops before converging into the capital turning up
19:27the pressure on Shahbaz Sharif's government the confrontation comes after weekend talks between PTI
19:33and government and government and government collapsed the party had originally planned the march for the 27th of September but
19:40postponed it after Islamabad offered negotiations the political crisis goes back to Khan's ouster in 2022 he has repeatedly accused
19:50Pakistan's powerful military establishment of engineering his removal a charge the military denies his arrest in May 2023 triggered violent
19:58protests with PTI supporters attacking military installations
20:02a subsequent crackdown saw thousands detained and some sentenced by military courts Khan remains behind bars after multiple convictions though
20:11all but one have since been suspended or overturned with appeals pending and now with the streets filling again Pakistan
20:19faces another potentially explosive confrontation Pakistan's Taliban problem is getting bigger
20:25Russia is getting bigger and Russia is getting bigger and Russia is getting bigger and Russia and Russia is stepping
20:26into the middle of it as Kabul and Islamabad trade accusations and strikes Moscow is embracing the Taliban and offering
20:33to mediate with Russia now backing Kabul has Pakistan's western front become a new geopolitical battleground
20:40Russia is throwing its weight behind the Taliban and sending a pointed message to NATO Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov
21:00welcomed Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaki in Moscow by marking what he called the fifth anniversary of Afghanistan's liberation
21:09from the NATO
21:10NATO contingent Lavrov said five years was a short period to overcome the consequences of decades of occupation but claimed
21:18the Taliban government's achievements were already evident he went further Lavrov said the powerful military machine of the United States
21:27and its NATO allies had been broken by the fighting spirit and resilience of Afghans he also praised the Taliban's
21:35campaign against Islamic State and other extremist groups as well as its efforts
21:40against drug trafficking and he linked those efforts directly to Russia's military technical cooperation with the Taliban Moscow also drew
21:49a red line over NATO Lavrov said any NATO military infrastructure in Afghanistan or neighboring countries was categorically unacceptable to
21:58Russia
21:58He argued that history showed such a presence could fuel instability and conflict Russia has already recognized the Taliban government
22:07becoming the first country to do so
22:10So in 2025 now Moscow says it will continue humanitarian assistance and remains ready to mediate between Afghanistan and Pakistan
22:20and that mediation offer comes as tension between Kabul and Islamabad continue to rise
22:27Pakistan accuses the Taliban government of sheltering militants particularly the Tariq Taliban Pakistan or TTP
22:34Pakistan's envoy Mohamed Sadiq claimed more than 4700 Pakistanis had been killed in terrorism emanating from Afghanistan over the past
22:44three years
22:45He called Pakistan's military strikes precise intelligence based and defensive the Taliban rejects those allegations
22:53Mattaki condemned Pakistan's strikes saying Afghan civilians including women and children had been killed
23:00He also disputed Pakistan's claims that the strikes had eliminated dangerous militants
23:06The dispute has already spilled across the border with Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan and retaliatory attacks by Afghan fighters
23:15Russia now wants to step in
23:17But Moscow's embrace of the Taliban comes with a bigger geopolitical message
23:22Five years after the US and NATO withdrawal Afghanistan remains diplomatically isolated over the Taliban's restriction on women
23:30Yet Russia is deepening engagement
23:33For the Taliban it is another opening to the outside world
23:37For Russia it is an opportunity to expand its influence in a region where NATO's return remains a red line
23:45And for Afghanistan and Pakistan
23:48The immediate question is whether Moscow's mediation can stop a border conflict that shows few signs of easing
24:01That's all in this edition of Statecraft
24:03Before we go, the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has gone to three scientists whose work changed how
24:10we study the brain
24:11Carl Deisseroth, Peter Hagemann and George Nagel were honoured for discoveries behind optogenetics
24:19A technique that uses light to switch selected nerve cells on or off
24:24Their breakthrough allows scientists to study how specific brain circuits influence behaviour, emotions and memory with remarkable precision
24:32Hagemann and Agel discovered light-sensitive proteins while Dyseroth showed how they could be used to control neurons inside living
24:42brains
24:42The technique has opened new possibilities for understanding neurological disorders and brain function
24:48Take a look at the visuals
24:49Goodbye and take care
24:51I just got a phone call to the phone call to the phone call to the phone call to the
24:55phone call to the phone call
24:56Baby, what's going on?
25:01I got a phone call this morning with, uh,
25:04Saturday night, but I got a phone call,
25:06because, you know, it's going to be lost.
25:09What?
25:12What?
25:15Oh, my God.
25:17What?
25:19You should have given 200 people.
25:25That's awesome.
25:26Oh, my God.
25:29Bye.
25:31Bye.
25:31Bye.