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More than six countries are interested in joining the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement signed by Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in August, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Friday, as the three members prepare for a high-level defense committee meeting in Riyadh.
“At least more than six countries are keen to join the Mecca, which is defensive in nature,” Dar said.
Any decision to expand the pact would require the approval of all three current members, he added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the agreement in August.
The pact stipulates that an attack against any one of the three signatory states will be considered an attack against all parties.
Dar said the Strategic Political Defense Committee, or SPDC, established under the agreement would meet “soon” in the Saudi capital.
The committee includes three representatives from each country: the foreign minister, defense minister and chief of general staff.
“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.
He later said, according to Pakistani newspaper Dawn, that the meeting would take place “next week.”
The three countries' military chiefs held a special meeting in Riyadh on Sept. 25, while their foreign ministers met in New York on Sept. 24.
Dar also referred to meetings with Iranian officials in New York last week, saying Tehran had suggested in “good faith” that the Houthis should be engaged politically.
He said both the Iranian president and foreign minister “wish” for the conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia “to conclude.”
Dar said he had “sensitized” the Iranian side about the trilateral defense agreement signed in Mecca, adding that “as Muslims we have to honor it.”
He stressed that decisions related to the pact would be made collectively by Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Dar also said Iranian officials “disassociate themselves from both Houthis as well as Iraqi militia.”
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