Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agree to establish secretariat under joint defence pact

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Turkey's Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Turkish Chief of General Staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, Pakistan's Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Saudi Arabia's Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, and Saudi Arabia's Chief of General Staff General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili pose before the first committee meeting under the joint defence accord, the "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement", in Istanbul, Turkey, August 31, 2026. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Aug ⁠31 (Reuters) - Saudi ⁠Arabia, Turkey ‌and Pakistan agreed to establish a ​secretariat in ⁠Saudi ⁠Arabia under their ⁠Mecca joint ‌defence ⁠agreement, which will ​initially ‌be headed by ⁠a ​Pakistani secretary-general for ⁠three years, ​Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said ⁠in a statement on Monday.

(Reporting by ​Yasmine ⁠Ghania and ​Menna ‌Alaa El DinEditing ​by Tomasz Janowski)