CDF Munir, FM Dar Head to Riyadh for Makkah Agreement Meeting
Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar are heading to Riyadh to attend a meeting under the Makkah Agreement, which is due in the Saudi capital on Monday, October 5. The meeting will review ongoing cooperation under the agreement, the Foreign Office said in a curtain raiser issued ahead of the visit.
Makkah Agreement meeting: what the Riyadh session will review
The session is a meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee (SPDC) working under the Makkah Agreement. The Foreign Office said the committee would take stock of cooperation already under way between the three countries and set out the next steps.
The curtain raiser, issued as PR No. 273/2026, frames the Riyadh meeting as part of the regular working of the pact rather than an emergency session. It follows a week of diplomatic traffic between Islamabad, Riyadh and Ankara as the three governments tighten their new trilateral security arrangement.
How the Makkah Agreement took shape
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye formalised their strategic relationship through the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed in Makkah after nearly a year of negotiations. The pact builds on the earlier Pakistan-Saudi Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement and extends the framework to include Turkiye.
The agreement commits the three states to structured defence cooperation, covering areas such as joint planning, intelligence sharing and coordinated responses to regional threats. Officials have described it as the first arrangement of its kind linking the three countries in a single defence framework.
The talks that led to Riyadh
The Munir-Dar visit follows a round of trilateral military consultations. The three foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 24 and 25, where the regional security situation took centre stage. The three military chiefs then met in Riyadh, where they reviewed regional threats, intelligence sharing and recent attacks on Saudi Arabia that Riyadh attributes to Yemen’s Houthis.
Monday’s committee meeting is the next step in that sequence, moving the conversation from military-level consultations to the political and strategic level of the pact.
Why the meeting matters now
The timing reflects the pressure of recent events. Houthi attacks on Saudi targets, including a power station in Madinah and an oil facility near Riyadh, have kept the kingdom’s defences on alert. The Makkah alliance had already called an emergency meeting to discuss the Houthi attacks, and Dar announced earlier that the pact’s committee would hold emergency talks in Riyadh on engaging the Houthis.
For Pakistan, the trip puts its senior-most military officer and its top diplomat at the same table with Saudi and Turkish counterparts at a moment when the region’s security architecture is being redrawn. Outcomes of the committee session are expected to be announced through official channels later on Monday.
What is the Makkah Agreement?
The Makkah Agreement is a strategic relationship between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, formalised through the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement. It sets up structured defence and security cooperation between the three countries.
Who is attending Monday’s Riyadh meeting?
Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar are heading to Riyadh for the session of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee, alongside their Saudi and Turkish counterparts.
What is the Strategic Political and Defence Committee?
The committee is the political and defence steering body working under the Makkah Agreement. It reviews ongoing cooperation between the three countries and decides the next steps in their security partnership.
When was the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement signed?
The agreement was signed in Makkah after nearly a year of negotiations. It builds on the earlier Pakistan-Saudi Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement and brings Turkiye into the same framework.
