Pakistan, Türkiye, Qatar and Indonesia sign 'Badr' defence pact in Doha to cooperate on joint arms production

Key takeaways

• Pakistan, Türkiye, Qatar and Indonesia signed a defence cooperation agreement, the Badr Memorandum of Understanding, in Doha on Wednesday, October 21, 2026.
• Türkiye's defence ministry says the pact covers joint military production, defence capabilities, technical training, and research and development.
• Defence Minister Khawaja Asif signed for Pakistan. He said the deal is about self-reliance, joint production and technology transfer.
• Qatar's state news agency says other friendly countries may join if they meet criteria agreed by the four members.
• It is an MoU on defence industry cooperation. None of the published statements describe it as a mutual-defence treaty.

What was signed

The four countries signed the agreement at a ceremony in Qatar's capital. Türkiye's defence ministry announced the signing first, and Qatar's defence ministry later released a similar statement.

According to the Turkish ministry, as quoted by Reuters, the accord aims to:

• foster cooperation in military production;
• boost defensive capabilities;
• support collaboration in technical military training and research and development.

The ministry said the agreement "holds substantial economic importance". It said each country's own production strengths would be used to build up the four defence industries and to meet the needs of "allied and friendly nations".

Who signed

Country	Signatory
Pakistan	Defence Minister Khawaja Asif
Türkiye	Defence Minister Yaşar Güler
Qatar	Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman
Indonesia	Deputy Defence Minister Yusuf Jauhari

Haluk Görgün, who heads Türkiye's defence industry agency, also attended. He said the four countries want partnerships that go beyond buying ready-made weapons and instead build up their own industries and skilled workforce.

What Pakistan says

According to Dawn, the Foreign Office had not commented when the agreement was announced. Khawaja Asif posted a statement on X saying Pakistan values defence cooperation with "trusted partners". He said Pakistan wants to explore joint production, industrial collaboration and technology transfer, in line with international and domestic law.

His statement also listed joint research and development, training exchanges and building industrial capacity as goals.

Why the name "Badr"

Qatar News Agency said the name refers to the full moon. It was chosen to show how the four nations "complement one another" under the agreement.

Background

The pact comes as the region faces wider conflict involving Iran. Reuters notes that Türkiye has been helping Gulf states, including Qatar, where it has a military base, strengthen their defences.

Pakistan and Türkiye are already part of a separate alliance with Saudi Arabia, which Dawn calls the Makkah Defence Alliance. Under that agreement, an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all. The Badr MoU, as described so far, is about defence industry and training cooperation, not a promise of mutual defence.

Dawn also reports that Pakistan's interior minister met his Qatari counterpart in Doha earlier this week, and that Indonesia's naval chief visited Rawalpindi last month.

What to watch

• Whether Pakistan's Foreign Office or Ministry of Defence Production publishes details of specific joint projects.
• Whether any other country applies to join, as the MoU allows.
• The first concrete production or technology-transfer deals under the agreement. None have been announced yet.