Makkah defence pact meeting to be held today in Riyadh, confirms FO

A meeting of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement will be held on Monday in Riyadh and will focus on regional developments and ongoing cooperation among the member states, the Foreign Office (FO) confirmed.

In a statement on social media platform X, the FO said Pakistan’s delegation to the meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee (SPDC) will include Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.

“The meeting will also be attended by the respective ministers of foreign affairs, ministers of defence, as well as chiefs of general staff of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Republic of Türkiye,” FO added.

It said that the member states will discuss “latest developments in the region and review ongoing cooperation under the framework of the Makkah Agreement”.

The FO added that Pakistan’s participation signified its “resolve to continue contributing towards regional peace and stability”.

Meanwhile, the defence pact, signed on Aug 7, aims to strengthen collective deterrence and empower its signatory states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them. The first meeting of the SPDC was held in Istanbul on Aug 31, during which it was decided that the alliance’s secretariat will be initially headed by Pakistan for three years. Retired Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood has been appointed as the first secretary general of the alliance. On Sept 25, the military chiefs of Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia met in Riyadh for urgently convened talks under the pact in light of the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. On Sept 18, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry had expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia, saying Pakistan will go to “any extent” to defend the Gulf state, adding that Islamabad’s commitment to the kingdom’s security is “unconditional”. Defence minister Asif has also reaffirmed that Pakistan would “practically and diplomatically” stand by Saudi Arabia against Yemen’s Houthi rebels if the situation escalated. Pak Saudi Ties Pak Turk Ties Pakistan