Dar arrives in Istanbul ahead of first meeting under Makkah defence pact

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday concluded an official visit to the United Kingdom and reached Istanbul, where Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye are set to hold a meeting under their trilateral defence pact.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed on August 7, is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all.

The Turkish foreign ministry confirmed that the first meeting of the “Strategic Political and Defence Committee” established under the defence pact will be held in Istanbul on August 31 (Monday).

On its side, Turkiye said its Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Chief of Turkish General Staff Gen Selcuk Bayraktaroglu will participate in the meeting.

While the Foreign Office (FO) did not share specific details of Dar’s visit — saying “official engagements” were on his itinerary — the Turkish ministry said “officials” from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were to attend the meeting.

Upon his arrival in Istanbul, Dar was received by Turkish Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration Brig. General Senol Varol, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Turkiye Dr Yousaf Junaid, Ambassador Cihad Erginay of the Turkish foreign ministry, and other senior officials of the Turkish government, the FO said.

The deputy premier later visited the shrine of Hazrat Abu Ayyub Ansari (RA) to pay his respects. He offered prayers for the peace and prosperity of Pakistan and its people, as well as for the Muslim community’s unity, the FO said.

Separately, Turkiye’s Fidan had also invited Dar to the Regional-4 meeting in Istanbul, which includes the three countries part of the defence pact, along with Egypt.

Dar had confirmed his participation in the meeting, which was scheduled to take place in August, FO had said.

The R-4 group has been focused on regional security and emerged in March amid efforts for mediation between the US and Iran.

The last R-4 meeting was held on August 5 in Amman, where the ministers “reaffirmed the importance of continued consultation and close coordination among the four countries in advancing regional stability”, according to FO.

Prior to that, a Cairo meeting held in June welcomed the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran. The first and second R-4 meetings — both held in March — took place in Riyadh and Islamabad, respectively.

UK visit wrapped up

In an earlier statement, FO said Dar “concluded a successful official visit to the UK”, where he met several officials including UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, Minister of State for Pakistan Stephen Doughty, National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez and Commonwealth Secretary General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.

During the visit, Dar also interacted with British parliamentarians of Pakistani origin and the Pakistani diaspora in the UK.