The military chiefs of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have discussed strengthening intelligence sharing, military coordination and the integration of defence capabilities during a meeting in Riyadh.
The meeting, held on Friday, brought together Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir; Saudi Arabia’s Chief of General Staff, General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili; and Turkey’s Chief of General Staff, General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu.
According to statements issued by Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry and Pakistan’s military, the commanders reviewed the security situation and threats facing Saudi Arabia. They also discussed ways to further expand cooperation among the armed forces of the three countries.
The military chiefs condemned attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement targeting the holy city of Makkah, as well as Saudi Arabia’s civilian and economic infrastructure.
The meeting follows the signing of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey last month. Under the agreement, an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be regarded as an attack against all three.
The agreement was reached after nearly a year of negotiations and aims to strengthen collective deterrence and military cooperation among the three countries.
The development comes amid heightened regional security concerns linked to the ongoing Iran war, which has exposed vulnerabilities among Gulf states and disrupted the movement of oil and other key goods through the Strait of Hormuz.
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