Pakistan’s top civil-military leadership to attend Makkah defence committee meeting today

Pakistan’s top civil and military leadership, including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, are undertaking an official visit to Riyadh on Monday (today) to attend a key trilateral security meeting, the Foreign Office confirmed.  

The high-level delegation will participate in the Meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee (SPDC), established under the framework of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement.

The session will bring together foreign ministers, defence ministers, and chiefs of general staff from Pakistan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.

During the talks, the representatives will review regional developments and discuss ongoing trilateral cooperation under the Makkah Agreement. 

The development comes a day after the leader of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government announced the beginning of a major military operation against the Houthis earlier on Sunday, aimed at seizing the territory under their control.

Pakistan’s foreign minister Dar said on Friday that Iran had suggested engaging Yemen’s Houthis politically after attacks by the group, an idea that the Makkah defence pact committee would discuss at a meeting in Riyadh this week.

The Foreign Office said Pakistan’s participation in the meeting today underscores its commitment to playing an active role in promoting regional peace and stability.

A day ago the Turkish foreign ministry also said that a committee of the Makkah defence pact between Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will hold talks in Riyadh on Monday, with Turkish ministers among those attending.

“The meeting will address recent developments in the region and the stage reached in the Alliance’s institutionalization efforts,” the Turkish statement said.

It said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and chief of the general staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu would attend the meeting of the pact’s strategic political and defence committee, along with officials from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.