ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that the Strategic Political Defence Committee (SPDC), established under the Makkah Joint Defence Alliance, would meet in Riyadh soon.
The deputy premier was addressing a press briefing in Islamabad on the Pakistan delegation’s engagements during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in September, as well as high-level meetings held on its sidelines.
“We made a plan because all three of us countries were present (in New York),” Dar said, referring to himself, Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
The SPDC, established under the trilateral Makkah Accord, comprises three members from each country: the foreign ministers, defence ministers and army chiefs, he said.
He said the three army chiefs held a special meeting in Riyadh on September 25, while the foreign ministers had met in New York on September 24 amid increased Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
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“A meeting of the full SPDC has been agreed in principle and will take place in Riyadh very soon,” the deputy premier said, adding that the meeting would assess the current situation and the “ground reality”, particularly with regard to Saudi Arabia.
He said further details would be shared once the meeting takes place.
On August 7, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the agreement to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, which stipulated that an armed attack against any of the three countries would be regarded as an attack on all.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the agreement.
On August 31, the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee established under the Makkah Defence Alliance was held, during which it was agreed that the first Secretary General of the Makkah Defence Alliance will be from Pakistan for a period of three years.
The meeting was held in Istanbul and was attended by the foreign and defence ministers and Chiefs of Defence Forces/Chiefs of General Staff of the three countries.
Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif represented Pakistan at the high-level meeting.
UN Secretary-General to visit Pakistan
During the briefing, the foreign minister also said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would visit
He said the UN chief had met the Pakistani delegation during the UNGA session, adding, “We invited him to Pakistan and the UN Secretary-General has accepted the invitation.”
Describing Guterres as a strong supporter of Pakistan, the deputy premier recalled his “unforgettable” role in helping the country during times of natural disasters.
He noted that Guterres’ term as UN secretary-general would end on December 31 this year, and said the visit would “likely” take place before the end of his tenure.
He added that the government would announce the details of the programme, with the visit expected to take place “very soon” at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
