Pakistan’s top leadership will join officials from Saudi Arabia and Turkiye today in Riyadh for an important meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee. The committee was formed under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir will represent Pakistan. Foreign ministers, defence ministers and chiefs of general staff from Saudi Arabia and Turkiye will also attend.
The Foreign Office confirmed that the meeting will review the latest regional developments and assess progress on cooperation under the Makkah framework. Pakistan’s participation shows its continued commitment to regional peace and stability.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry also announced that its Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Chief of General Staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu will take part. Officials said the talks will focus on recent events in the region and the next steps in building the alliance’s institutions.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the Makkah trilateral agreement on August 7. The pact states that an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack on all of them. It was later named the Makkah Defence Alliance.
The meeting comes at a time of heightened tension. The Houthis have launched repeated missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia since July. They have targeted Saudi-linked ships in the Red Sea, airports, energy facilities and other key infrastructure. Saudi air defence systems have intercepted many of these projectiles.
Earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said an emergency meeting under the Makkah agreement would be held to review the situation after Saudi Arabia faced 17 to 18 attacks. He stressed that Pakistan is bound to defend Saudi Arabia and that such alliances are allowed under the UN Charter.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also strongly condemned the Houthi attacks. He said Pakistan has no doubt that the group is committing aggression against the Kingdom and that any enemy of Saudi Arabia is an enemy of Pakistan.
Today’s talks in Riyadh will give the three countries a chance to coordinate their response and strengthen the defence partnership at a critical moment for regional security.
