RIYADH: The Strategic Political and Defence Committee of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement will meet Monday in Riyadh to discuss regional developments and ongoing cooperation among member states, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said.
Pakistan’s delegation will include Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, the Foreign Office said in a statement on X. Foreign and defence ministers and chiefs of general staff from Saudi Arabia and Türkiye will also attend.
The member states will discuss “latest developments in the region and review ongoing cooperation under the framework of the Makkah Agreement,” the statement said.
The Foreign Office said Pakistan’s participation reflected its “resolve to continue contributing towards regional peace and stability.”
Dar arrived in Madina earlier Monday, paid his respects at the Prophet’s Mosque and offered prayers before traveling to Riyadh, where he will be joined by Munir and Asif, the Foreign Office said.
Dar confirmed the meeting last week, describing it as an “emergency meeting” focused on recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
The meeting comes after Yemen’s Saudi-led coalition government launched a major military campaign Sunday to recapture territory held by the Houthis.
Fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis showed no signs of abating over the weekend. The Houthis said the kingdom launched dozens of strikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, after which they attacked an Aramco facility with ballistic missiles and drones south of Riyadh.
The two sides have traded strikes since the Houthis seized Yemen’s Red Sea coast and took control of the Bab al-Mandeb strait in a lightning offensive.
The defence pact, signed Aug. 7, aims to strengthen collective deterrence and allow signatory states to treat an attack against one as an attack against all.
The committee’s first meeting was held Aug. 31 in Istanbul, where it was decided the alliance’s secretariat would initially be headed by Pakistan for three years. Retired Lt. Gen. Nauman Mahmood was appointed the alliance’s first secretary general.
On Sept. 25, military chiefs of Pakistan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia met in Riyadh for urgently convened talks under the pact in light of the Houthi attacks.
On Sept. 18, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia, saying Pakistan would go to “any extent” to defend the Gulf state and that Islamabad’s commitment to the kingdom’s security is “unconditional.”
Defence Minister Asif has also reaffirmed that Pakistan would “practically and diplomatically” stand by Saudi Arabia against Yemen’s Houthi rebels if the situation escalated.
