Turkey will not join a mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, a source close to the Saudi military told AFP on Saturday, after a Turkish official said earlier this month that they had entered talks aimed at entering the alliance.

Speculation has been rife that the three countries were intent on forming a powerful alliance amid soaring tensions in the region, following Israeli air strikes in Doha over the summer targeting Hamas officials that preceded Iran’s bombing of a US air base in Qatar.

“Turkey won’t join the defense pact with Pakistan,” the source told AFP, dismissing reports of negotiations.

“It’s a bilateral pact with Pakistan and will remain a bilateral pact”.

A Gulf official also confirmed the information.

“This is a bilateral defensive relationship with Pakistan. We have common agreements with Turkey but the one with Pakistan will stay bilateral,” the official said.

The Pakistan-Saudi pact was signed just months after Pakistan and India fought an intense four-day conflict in May that killed more than 70 people on both sides in missile, drone and artillery fire, the worst clashes between the nuclear-armed neighbors since 1999.

Pakistan and India, also a nuclear power, have long accused each other of backing militant forces to destabilize one another.

Saudi Arabia is believed to have played a key role in defusing the conflict.

Riyadh also maintains good relations with Delhi.

India’s rapidly developing economy relies heavily on petroleum imports, with Saudi Arabia ranked as its third-largest supplier according to the Indian foreign ministry.