Meeting in Istanbul

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are set to hold their first meeting under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in Istanbul. The meeting, which will take place on August 31, will be attended by high-level delegations from the three countries, including their foreign and defence ministers, as well as chiefs of staff. According to Dawn, Pakistan will be represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, and Chief of Defence Forces and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.

The meeting aims to strengthen political and defence cooperation among the three countries. As reported by Ajel English, the foreign and defence ministers, as well as the chiefs of staff of the Turkish and Saudi armed forces, will attend the opening session. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the meeting will be held under the framework of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed on August 7, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signing the joint pact in Mecca. According to Middle East Eye, under the pact, an attack on any one signatory is treated as an attack on all of them. Field Marshal Asim Munir and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Istanbul on Sunday ahead of the meeting.

Brief written by urgent.news from Daily Times, Ajel English, Dawn - Pakistan, Dawn, Middle East Eye — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.