Islamabad- The inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee established under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement (Makkah Accord) will be held on Monday in Istanbul, Türkiye.

Pakistan will be represented at the meeting by Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Defence, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, and the Chief of Army Staff & Chief of Defence Forces, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, according to a statement from the Foreign Office.

“Pakistan’s participation in the meeting signifies Pakistan’s historic bonds of friendship with the brotherly countries of Turkiÿe and Saudi Arabia, as well as its desire for lasting regional peace and stability,” it said.

The meeting will also be attended by the respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ministers of Defence, as well as Chiefs of General Staff of Türkiye and Saudi Arabia.

The defence deal was signed in the holy Muslim city of Makkah earlier this month and hailed as the first concrete step toward creating a Muslim block for joint security of those countries.

It has the potential to expand, and already Bangladesh has shown interest in the pact.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed 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.