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More than six countries have expressed interest in joining the ‘Makkah Joint Defence Pact’ formed by Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in August this year, Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar said on Friday (September 3).
He said the pact is purely defensive in nature. However, any new country seeking to join the alliance would require the approval of all three founding members — Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the pact in Makkah in August. Under the agreement, an attack on any one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all three.
A high-level meeting of the defence committee is expected to be held soon in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh. The foreign and defence ministers and army chiefs of the three countries will attend the meeting. The talks are considered particularly significant amid attacks on Saudi Arabia by Houthi rebels.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s foreign minister recently met Iranian officials in New York. During the meeting, Iran expressed its desire to see an end to the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
Ishaq Dar told the Iranian side that Pakistan, as a Muslim country, is committed to upholding the defence pact. Iran also claimed that it has no links with the Houthis or Iraqi militias. Source: Turkish media.
