Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar announced that the Strategic Political and Defence Committee established under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement will meet in Riyadh next week.

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar said the Strategic Political and Defence Committee, established under the agreement signed by Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, is scheduled to meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh next week.

The committee is composed of the foreign ministers, defence ministers and chiefs of defence forces or chiefs of General Staff of the three countries. Its meetings are intended to strengthen coordination in political, military and defence industry fields and reinforce collective deterrence.

According to Dar, the upcoming meeting is expected to focus particularly on the recent Houthi attacks targeting Saudi Arabia and developments affecting regional security. Discussions may also include options for political engagement aimed at reducing tensions.

Makkah Joint Defence Agreement

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met in Makkah on August 7 and signed the “Makkah Joint Defence Agreement.”

The agreement was shaped around the principles of shared responsibility and regional ownership in response to escalating instability at the global and regional levels. It aims to strengthen defence cooperation and collective deterrence among the three countries while contributing to regional peace and security.

One of the agreement’s most significant provisions is its collective defence commitment.

Under the pact, an armed attack against any one of the three countries is regarded as an attack against all three, consistent with the right of individual and collective self-defence under international law.

Cooperation to be institutionalized

The Strategic Political and Defence Committee held its first meeting in Istanbul on August 31, bringing together the foreign and defence ministers and military chiefs of Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Following that meeting, the three countries agreed to further institutionalize their cooperation under the agreement and to strengthen collective deterrence and defence capabilities. They also agreed to establish a secretariat in Saudi Arabia, initially headed by a Pakistani secretary-general for a three-year term.

The three countries also agreed to strengthen their defence capabilities and the cohesion of their armed forces through defence industry cooperation, joint technology development and production.

The upcoming meeting in Riyadh will therefore be held as the three countries continue efforts to develop the institutional framework of the Makkah defence mechanism amid growing regional security concerns. (ILKHA)