![Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Turkish National Defense Minister Yasar Guler, Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, Pakistani Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman and Saudi Chief of General Staff Gen. Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili attend the first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee, established under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, in Istanbul, Turkiye, on August 31, 2026. [Turkish Foreign Ministry/Handout - Anadolu Agency]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/AA-20260831-42350249-42350242-FIRST_COMMITTEE_MEETING_OF_MECCA_JOINT_DEFENSE_AGREEMENT_BEGINS_IN_ISTANBUL.jpg)
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Friday that the Strategic Political Defense Committee (SPDC) established under the joint defense pact between Pakistan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia will meet “soon” in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Anadolu reports. Dar said the committee has three members from each country – the foreign ministers, defense ministers and chiefs of General Staff. The three military chiefs met in Riyadh on Sept. 25 for a special meeting, while the foreign ministers met in New York on Sept. 24. “Very soon, a meeting of the whole SPDC … has been agreed to in principle, to take place in Riyadh,” Dar said amid Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Later, according to the daily Dawn, he said that the […]
