Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to hold first post-pact defence meeting in Istanbul

Top officials from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are due to meet in Istanbul on Monday for the first time since signing the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement earlier this month. The gathering will bring together foreign ministers, defence ministers and chiefs of staff from the three countries. Turkish officials said the meeting is intended to formalise a political and defence strategic committee.

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The agenda is expected to cover international security issues and ways to improve military cooperation and capabilities. According to the information provided by Turkish officials, the Istanbul meeting marks the first such session since the pact was signed in Mecca. The arrangement has been described as a collective security pact similar to NATO, under which an attack on one member could be treated as an attack on all.

The agreement has drawn attention because of the military and political weight of the three states involved. Turkiye has the second-largest military in NATO, Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed Muslim country, and Saudi Arabia is the world's leading oil exporter. The meeting therefore carries significance beyond a routine diplomatic contact, as it may help define how the new framework will operate in practice.

The pact was established after the United States-Israel war on Iran, according to the supplied material. That background gives the Istanbul meeting added importance, as the three governments appear to be moving from signing a broad security arrangement to setting up the structures needed to manage it. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also said in an interview that Egypt could potentially join the pact, while Bangladesh has said it is actively considering joining.

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The possibility of expansion is being watched closely in the region. India is monitoring the development, and its Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, has said New Delhi will take all necessary steps to safeguard its national security. That reaction suggests the agreement is already being assessed not only as a bilateral or trilateral initiative, but as a wider regional security development.

What remains unclear is how quickly the new committee will begin work and whether the Istanbul meeting will produce any concrete commitments on military coordination. It is also not yet clear how far the pact may expand beyond the three founding members. The meeting on Monday is likely to be an early test of whether the agreement can move from political announcement to operational cooperation.

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