Overview
- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar accepted an invitation from Turkish FM Hakan Fidan to attend a Pakistan‑Türkiye‑Saudi Arabia‑Egypt foreign ministers’ meeting in Istanbul later this month.
- The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement signed on August 7 between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye creates a formal trilateral security framework that plans senior political and military mechanisms, joint land‑sea‑air exercises and deeper defence‑industry cooperation.
- Pakistan and Türkiye publicly stress that diplomacy and sustained dialogue are the primary way to manage regional disputes, with Dar and Fidan holding repeated phone talks to coordinate positions.
- Islamabad is simultaneously expanding ties with Russia, with meetings between Dar and Russian Ambassador Albert Khorev and agreements under way for an Economic Cooperation Programme through 2030 and a readmission/visa facilitation deal.
- By combining institutional defence steps with a convening role for US‑Iran negotiations, Pakistan aims to both deter threats and lower escalation risks, which could shift regional alignments and affect maritime and border security in the Gulf region.