Pakistan’s Dar, Munir arrive in Turkiye ahead of first Makkah defence pact meeting

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir on Sunday (August 30, 2026) reached Turkiye for a trilateral defence pact meeting, which also includes Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the trilateral defence agreement, known as the ‘Makkah Joint Defence Agreement’, on August 7.

Under the agreement, an attack against one of the countries will be treated as an attack against all of them, amid increasing security concerns in the wake of escalating tensions in West Asia.

The Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement said Dar, who is also the foreign minister, had landed in Istanbul for “official engagements”.

Separately, the army said in a statement that Field Marshal Munir also arrived in Türkiye on an “official visit”.

The details of their engagements have not been shared officially.

However, the Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed that the first meeting of the “Strategic Political and Defence Committee” established under the defence pact will be held in Istanbul on Monday.

Turkiye said its Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Chief of Turkish General Staff Gen Selcuk Bayraktaroglu will participate in the meeting.

The agenda of the first meeting under the defence agreement is not known, but it is believed that the regional situation with respect to the Iran war would be discussed.

Separately, Turkiye’s Fidan also invited Dar to the Regional-4 meeting in Istanbul, which includes the three countries part of the defence pact, along with Egypt.

The R-4 group, which has been focused on regional security, emerged in March amid efforts for mediation between the US and Iran.

The last R-4 meeting was held on August 5 in Jordan’s capital Amman, where the ministers “reaffirmed the importance of continued consultation and close coordination among the four countries in advancing regional stability”, according to the Foreign Office.

Pakistan has sought to play a mediatory role between the U.S. and Iran.

Mr. Dar travelled to Turkiye from London where he “concluded a successful official visit to the UK”, according to the Foreign Office.