Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday concluded an official visit to the United Kingdom and reached Istanbul, where Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye are set to hold a meeting under their trilateral defence pact.
The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed on August 7, is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all.
The Turkish foreign ministry confirmed that the first meeting of the “Strategic Political and Defence Committee” established under the defence pact will be held in Istanbul on August 31 (Monday).
On its side, Turkiye said its Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Chief of Turkish General Staff Gen Selcuk Bayraktaroglu will participate in the meeting.
While the Foreign Office (FO) did not share specific details of Dar’s visit — saying “official engagements” were on his itinerary — the Turkish ministry said “officials” from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were to attend the meeting.
