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Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Hold Second Defence Alliance Meeting
Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met in Riyadh on Monday for the second meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee established under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.
The talks focused on recent developments in the region and efforts to strengthen and institutionalise the three-way defence alliance.
Turkey’s delegation was led by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and included National Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Chief of the Turkish General Staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu.
Pakistan was represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office said the meeting would review the latest regional developments and cooperation under the Makkah framework.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on August 7. Under the agreement, an armed attack against any one of the three countries is considered an attack against all three.
The committee held its first meeting in Istanbul on August 31, where the countries began establishing the alliance’s institutional structure and agreed to set up its secretariat in Saudi Arabia.
The three foreign ministers later met in New York on September 25 to review progress on establishing the General Secretariat, committees and working groups under the agreement.
