India is closely monitoring Bangladesh’s reported interest in joining the recently signed Mecca Defense Pact among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday. He made the remarks in response to a question at a conference, following comments by Bangladesh’s foreign affairs adviser Humayun Kabir in an interview that Dhaka was interested in joining the agreement.

Jaiswal said India was closely watching developments in West Asia and added that this was all he could say on the matter at present. The pact aims to strengthen collective deterrence and defense cooperation among its three signatories.

Under the agreement, an armed attack on any one of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia or Turkey would be treated as an attack on all three countries. At the same briefing, Jaiswal was asked about a possible visit to India by Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. He said there was no new information on the visit and that the media would be informed once a schedule was finalized.