Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan to hold first defence pact meeting in Istanbul
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will hold their first committee meeting under a new joint defence accord in Istanbul on Monday.
Senior officials from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are set to convene in Istanbul on Monday for the inaugural committee meeting under their newly signed joint defence agreement. The meeting follows the "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement," signed on August 7, which unites three Sunni-majority U.S. allies amid heightened regional tensions.
The pact establishes a collective defence framework, stipulating that an armed attack on any one of the three nations would be treated as an attack on all, mirroring NATO's Article 5 principle. The agreement is designed to strengthen deterrence against aggression, particularly in the context of the ongoing Iran war and its spillover effects, including missile strikes on Gulf oil exporters.
Foreign and defence ministers, along with the chiefs of staff of all three countries, will attend the Istanbul meeting. According to a Turkish foreign ministry source, the agenda will focus on international security issues, enhancing defence capabilities, improving interoperability among armed forces, and deepening defence industry cooperation, including joint production and development.
The three nations share concerns over the military postures of Israel and Iran. The meeting comes six months into the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, with negotiations at an impasse and Washington intensifying financial pressure on Tehran.
Turkey, which hosts NATO's second-largest military, has indicated that the pact is open to expansion, with Egypt a potential future member. Ankara has also stressed that the agreement does not seek to replace existing alliances.