Pakistan, Saudi, Turkey Review Defence Pact
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar met his Saudi Arabian and Turkish counterparts on Friday to review progress on institutionalising the Makkah Defence Alliance.
The alliance, signed on August 7, allows member states to treat an attack on one as an attack on all. Its inaugural meeting on August 31 in Istanbul established the alliance’s institutional structure, with Pakistan chosen to head the secretariat in Riyadh.
Retired Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood was appointed the first secretary general on September 23.
Dar met Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where they reviewed progress on institutional structures and exchanged views on regional and international security.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said the meeting was held within the framework of the agreement, condemning recent Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia and discussing an urgent meeting of the chiefs of staff of the three countries to support the Gulf state.
The three sides reviewed progress on the general secretariat, committees, and working groups, and prepared for the commencement of their activities, emphasizing the importance of upholding international law, good neighbourliness, mutual respect for state sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, and ensuring maritime navigation security.
Saudi Arabia intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthis a day earlier, and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan would go to any extent to defend Saudi Arabia, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to stand shoulder to shoulder with Saudi Arabia.
