ISTANBUL (The COW News Digital) Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye convened the inaugural meeting of their Strategic Political and Defence Committee in Istanbul today, following up on the landmark Makkah Joint Defence Agreement.
Pakistan’s delegation—led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir—arrived in the Turkish metropolis to participate in the high-level security dialogue.
According to Pakistan’s Foreign Office, the meeting marks the formal operationalization of the mutual defence pact signed in Makkah on August 7, 2026. The joint mechanism establishes a collective deterrence framework, stipulating that an attack against any member state will be treated as an assault on all three.
Diplomatic sources confirmed that the Istanbul discussions focused on establishing working groups to enhance interoperability among the three armed forces, expanding mutual security cooperation, and establishing joint defence manufacturing ventures. The talks also reviewed the broader geopolitical dynamics across the Middle East and South Asia.
Upon his arrival, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar visited the historic Shrine of Hazrat Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (RA), where he offered prayers for the peace, sovereignty, and prosperous development of Pakistan, as well as unity across the Muslim world.
The strategic grouping unites three major regional powers: NATO’s second-largest military (Turkiye), the Islamic world’s sole nuclear power (Pakistan), and the Gulf’s economic powerhouse (Saudi Arabia). Officials from all three capitals reaffirmed that the defensive framework remains open to future expansion aimed at stabilizing the wider region.
