Pakistan Announces Upcoming Meeting in Riyadh to Activate 'Mecca Joint Defense Agreement' - Sarmad

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, announced that a meeting of the Political and Strategic Defense Committee of the Mecca Agreement for Joint Defense will be held soon in Riyadh to activate cooperation among Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan.

The anticipated meeting follows the committee’s first session, held in Istanbul on August 31, which included the foreign and defense ministers and chiefs of staff from the three countries. Participants agreed to take steps to develop institutional and military cooperation and to establish a general secretariat for the agreement in Saudi Arabia, to be headed by a Pakistani secretary-general during the first three years.

The agreement, signed in Mecca on August 7, stipulates that any external armed attack on one of the three countries will be considered an attack on all of them, alongside enhancing defensive cooperation, collective deterrence, and mutual support.

These moves to activate the agreement come amid escalating regional tensions, as the three countries seek to strengthen military coordination and develop cooperation in defense manufacturing, technology, information sharing, and the integration of their armed forces.