Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye Hold First Makkah Defence Pact Meeting in Istanbul
ISTANBUL, TÜRKİYE — WEB DESK: Senior foreign, defence and military officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye are gathering in Istanbul on Monday for the inaugural meeting of a strategic committee established under their newly signed Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, marking the first formal step toward operationalising the trilateral security framework.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office confirmed that the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee would take place in Istanbul on August 31, bringing together the foreign ministers, defence ministers and senior military leadership of the three countries.
Pakistan is being represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, and Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
Dar and Munir arrived in Türkiye ahead of the meeting. The original Express Urdu report said the session would review the defence agreement’s framework and progress toward its implementation.
Türkiye, Saudi Arabia Send Senior Leadership
Türkiye is expected to be represented by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yaşar Güler and Chief of General Staff Gen Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu.
Saudi Arabia’s delegation is also expected to include its foreign and defence ministers and chief of general staff. Current reporting identifies Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Chief of General Staff Gen Fayyad bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili among the Saudi participants.
The high-level composition of the delegations underscores the significance all three governments are attaching to turning the recently signed agreement into an operational security mechanism.
What Will the Istanbul Meeting Discuss?
According to Turkish Foreign Ministry sources cited in current reporting, discussions are expected to cover the international and regional security environment as well as ways to strengthen the three countries’ defence capabilities.
The participants are also expected to consider military interoperability, joint exercises, defence-industry cooperation, joint production and development, research and defence technologies.
Counterterrorism cooperation and improved coordination among the armed forces are also expected to feature in the discussions.
Another important task will be institutional.
Officials are expected to discuss the establishment of a secretariat and other mechanisms needed to coordinate activities and implement decisions made under the agreement.
This makes the Istanbul session more than a ceremonial follow-up to the signing. It is intended to begin building the structures through which the trilateral pact could function in practice.
What Is the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement?
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on August 7, 2026, following months of negotiations over a trilateral security framework. Pakistan’s Foreign Office describes the agreement as defensive and says it is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against external aggression.
One of its most consequential provisions states that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against all three.
That collective-defence language has prompted comparisons with NATO’s Article 5.
The comparison, however, requires qualification.
The Makkah pact is a newly established trilateral framework whose operational mechanisms are still being developed. It should therefore not be described as a new NATO or as equivalent to NATO’s mature command and institutional structure.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office itself said on August 27 that operationalisation of the agreement remained at an “early stage.”
Pakistan Says Pact Is Defensive, Not Directed Against Any Country
Islamabad has repeatedly stressed that the agreement is not aimed at a particular state.
In an official statement after the signing, Ishaq Dar said the pact was “defensive in nature” and intended to reinforce the three countries’ ability to protect their sovereignty, territorial integrity and populations.
Pakistan has linked the collective-defence provision to the right of individual and collective self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
The Foreign Office reiterated last week that the emerging security architecture was designed to safeguard peace and regional stability.
It also said the framework remained open to countries willing to accept its collective obligations and shared security principles, although any request would require consultation among Islamabad, Riyadh and Ankara.
Agreement Followed Months of Negotiations
The Istanbul meeting is the latest stage of a process that was publicly acknowledged earlier this year.
In January, Reuters reported that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye had prepared a draft trilateral defence agreement following nearly a year of negotiations. Pakistan’s then-public statements indicated that the proposed trilateral framework was separate from its existing bilateral defence arrangements with Saudi Arabia.
The agreement was formally signed in Makkah on August 7 by the leadership of the three countries.
Monday’s committee meeting now moves the arrangement from the signing stage toward institutional implementation.
Dar, Asim Munir Arrive in Türkiye
Dar arrived in Istanbul after concluding an official visit to the United Kingdom.
Turkish Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration Brig Gen Şenol Varol, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Türkiye Dr Yousaf Junaid, Turkish Foreign Ministry Ambassador Cihad Erginay and other officials received him on arrival.
Dar later visited the shrine of Hazrat Abu Ayyub Ansari in Istanbul, where Pakistan’s Foreign Office said he prayed for peace and prosperity in Pakistan and unity among Muslims.
Field Marshal Asim Munir also arrived in Türkiye on an official visit ahead of the trilateral talks.
Dar separately met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, with the two sides reviewing bilateral political, economic, security and cultural ties and discussing regional and international developments.
Regional Security Context
The agreement has taken shape during a period of heightened security uncertainty across the Middle East.
Pakistan has portrayed the framework as part of a broader effort to strengthen regional deterrence while continuing diplomatic efforts to resolve conflicts through dialogue. The Foreign Office has repeatedly said the pact is intended to promote stability rather than confrontation.
The three participating countries bring substantially different strategic capabilities: Türkiye has one of NATO’s largest armed forces and an expanding defence industry; Saudi Arabia is a major Gulf military and economic power; and Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons and a large conventional military.
However, there has been no official announcement that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal has been placed under a trilateral command structure or automatically extended as a nuclear guarantee to Saudi Arabia or Türkiye.
The agreement’s collective-defence clause should therefore not be expanded into claims about nuclear sharing or automatic nuclear retaliation unless the three governments explicitly establish such arrangements.
First Test Is Turning Pact Into Working Structure
The immediate significance of Monday’s meeting lies in implementation.
The three countries must now determine how political consultations, military coordination, defence-industrial projects and collective security commitments will operate in practice.
Pakistan says its participation reflects its longstanding relationships with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye and its commitment to regional peace and stability.
The outcome of the Istanbul talks will be closely watched for details on the proposed secretariat, military interoperability, joint exercises and defence production — as well as any indication that other countries could eventually join the emerging framework.
