Pakistan’s foreign minister discusses defense alliance agreements with Saudi counterpart
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar discussed further steps regarding the agreements reached at the first meeting of the Makkah defense alliance during a telephone conversation with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan. This was reported by Dawn, citing Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
The sides also exchanged views on the regional and international situation, as well as issues of mutual interest on multilateral platforms. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said that the ministers agreed to remain in close contact.
Three-country defense agreement
The trilateral defense pact of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey was signed on August 7. It provides that an attack on one of the participating states will be regarded as an attack on all parties to the agreement.
The first meeting of the alliance’s Strategic Political-Defense Committee took place in Istanbul on August 31. It was attended by the foreign and defense ministers of the three states, as well as senior military officials. The participants agreed to further institutionalize cooperation to strengthen collective deterrence and defense.
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It was also decided to locate the alliance’s secretariat in Saudi Arabia, with Pakistan to head it during the first three years. The agreement was signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a summit at Al-Safa Palace.
Contacts with Egypt
On the same day, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty invited Ishaq Dar to visit Egypt on a bilateral visit during a telephone conversation. They discussed Pakistani-Egyptian relations, regional and international issues, and also agreed to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this month.
Pakistan and Egypt are part of the R-4 regional group together with Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The group focuses on regional security issues and emerged in March amid mediation efforts between the United States and Iran.
