Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye Meet to Test Their Defence Pact

The first meeting of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye’s new defence committee comes at a tense moment: Washington and Tehran have exchanged strikes after a month-long lull in a war that has lasted more than six months.

The Strategic Political and Defence Committee, established under the agreement signed in Mecca on August 7, met in Istanbul on Monday. Pakistan’s delegation included Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. Turkiye sent Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and General Staff Chief Selcuk Bayraktaroglu. Saudi Arabia was represented by Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman and General Staff Chief Fayyad al-Ruwaili.

The three countries are expected to discuss military interoperability, joint exercises, defence-industrial cooperation, including joint production and research, and counterterrorism coordination. Turkish officials have said the pact’s permanent secretariat will be based in Saudi Arabia, although its structure and responsibilities still need to be agreed.

Pakistan has also suggested that Egypt could attend the meeting as part of a four-country mediation group that has sought to help end the US war on Iran. Egypt’s possible participation would not make it a party to the defence agreement. Analysts’ main question remains practical: how the collective-defence commitment will operate on the ground. Some have compared it with NATO’s Article 5, while independent analysts have rejected that comparison.