Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Turkey's Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Turkish Chief of General Staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, Pakistan's Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Saudi Arabia's Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, and Saudi Arabia's Chief of General Staff General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili pose before the first committee meeting under the joint defence accord, the "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement", in Istanbul, Turkey, 31 August, 2026.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Turkey's Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Turkish Chief of General Staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, Pakistan's Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Saudi Arabia's Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, and Saudi Arabia's Chief of General Staff General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili pose before the first committee meeting under the joint defence accord, the "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement", in Istanbul, Turkey, 31 August, 2026.
International

Pakistan says Mecca alliance is “defensive”, its expansion not on the cards

ReutersIslamabad

The Mecca agreement, signed between Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia last month, is a "defensive alliance" and there are no plans to expand it at the moment, Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

The statement came in response to a question at a weekly briefing on how Pakistan plans to fulfill its obligations under the accord after Saudi Arabia was attacked by the Houthis.

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