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Pakistan, Aug. 31 — Top officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye will gather in Istanbul on Monday for a first committee meeting under the joint defence accord that they signed this month, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.

The three US allies signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on August 7.

It is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all, similar to Nato’s Article 5 collective defence clause.

Foreign and defence ministers, as well as the chiefs of staff, of the three countries will attend the meeting in Istanbul, the ministry source said.

“International security issues will be on the agenda,” the source said, with discussions expected to cover enhancing defence capabilities, greater interoperability among their armed forces and deepening cooperation in the defence industry, including joint production and development.

For the purpose, Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Turkiye on Sunday.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a brief statement issued in the evening, said CDF Munir arrived “in Turkiye on an official visit”.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office (FO) earlier in the day said Dar, who is also the foreign minister, reached Istanbul after concluding his visit to the United Kingdom.

The Turkish foreign ministry confirmed that the first meeting of the “Strategic Political and Defence Committee” established under the defence pact will be held in Istanbul on August 31 (Monday).

On its side, Turkiye said its FM Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Chief of Turkish General Staff Gen Selcuk Bayraktaroglu will participate in the meeting.

While FO did not share specific details of Dar’s visit – saying “official engagements” were on his itinerary – the Turkish ministry said “officials” from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were to attend the meeting.

Upon his arrival in Istanbul, Dar was received by Turkish Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration Brig. General Senol Varol, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Turkiye Dr Yousaf Junaid, Ambassador Cihad Erginay of the Turkish foreign ministry, and other senior officials of the Turkish government, the FO said.

The deputy premier later visited the shrine of Hazrat Abu Ayyub Ansari (RA) to pay his respects. He offered prayers for the peace and prosperity of Pakistan and its people, as well as for the Muslim community’s unity, the FO said.

Separately, Turkiye’s Fidan had also invited Dar to the Regional-4 meeting in Istanbul, which includes the three countries part of the defence pact, along with Egypt.

Dar had confirmed his participation in the meeting, which was scheduled to take place in August, FO had said.

The last R-4 meeting was held on August 5 in Amman, where the ministers “reaffirmed the importance of continued consultation and close coordination among the four countries in advancing regional stability”, according to FO.

Prior to that, a Cairo meeting held in June welcomed the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran. The first and second R-4 meetings – both held in March – took place in Riyadh and Islamabad, respectively.