Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, CDF Munir have already in Istanbul on official visit
Istanbul
Talks under the “Makkah Joint Defence Agreement” between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye will be held in Istanbul on Monday to review the contours of the agreement and progress made so far, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Sunday. According to a statement, the three countries, which signed the pact earlier this month, would discuss the agreement in detail at their first meeting since its signing.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, arrived in Turkiye on an official visit.
Reuters reported, citing a Turkish foreign ministry source, that top officials from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will gather in Istanbul on Monday for the first committee meeting under the joint defence accord they signed this month.
Foreign and defence ministers, as well as the chiefs of staff of the three countries, will attend the meeting in Istanbul, the ministry source said.
“International security issues will be on the agenda,” the source said, with discussions expected to cover enhancing defence capabilities, greater interoperability among their armed forces and deepening cooperation in the defence industry, including joint production and development. Six months after the US and Israel launched the war against Iran, negotiations are at an impasse and President Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up efforts to punish Iran financially with what it has billed as an “economic D-Day”.
Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest military, has said the pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan and top oil exporter Saudi Arabia was open to expansion — with Egypt as a potential candidate — and did not seek to replace existing alliances.
