pDeputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said on Sunday that the defence pact signed between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye remained open to any country in the region willing to uphold its fundamental principles./p pHe also clarified that the agreement was purely defensive in nature./p pThe indication that an expansion of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021248"signed/a in the Saudi city on Friday, was possible came a day after the Turkish foreign minister said Egypt could be joining the pact./p pThe pact aims to strengthen collective deterrence and empowers its signatory states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them./p pDar further elaborated on the pact, which he referred to as the Makkah Accord, in a post on X./p pThe Makkah Joint Defence Agreement reflects the depth of the brotherly relations between the leadership and peoples of the three countries./p pThe Makkah Accord is the culmination of years of discussions and coordination, with a common desire to strengthen strategic cooperation in addressing multifarious peace and security challenges and advancing regional peace, stability and prosperity, he said./p blockquote class"twitter-tweet" lang"en" a href"https://twitter.com/MIshaqDar50/status/2086390289036611929"/a /blockquote pHe clarified that the pact did not abrogate or replace any existing bilateral or multilateral agreements between the signatory countries, or with other countries or organisations./p pReiterating that any external armed attack on any one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all under the pact, he said it was consistent with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter./p pMoreover, he said, the accord was purely defensive in nature./p pIt is not targeted against any country and its sole purpose is to further strengthen our ongoing efforts towards peace, stability and prosperity in the wider region./p pThe Makkah Accord remains open to any country in the region willing to uphold its fundamental principles and resolve differences through mutual respect, cooperation and peaceful means, he said, adding that the pact was consistent with the fundamental pillars of Islamabads foreign policy./p pPakistan looks forward to continuing to work closely with all brotherly countries in the region towards lasting peace and stability. We remain committed to advancing the cause of peaceful resolution of all conflicts and building a more secure, stable and prosperous future for our peoples, he concluded./p pLater in the day, Dar and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand exchanged views on the regional situation, including the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, the Foreign Office (FO) said./p pDar informed Anand of the essence of the agreement and the joint resolve of the three countries to contribute to regional peace, stability and security./p blockquote class"twitter-tweet" lang"en" a href"https://twitter.com/ForeignOfficePk/status/2086483933567590515"/a /blockquote h2a id"egypt-likely-to-join-turkish-fm" href"egypt-likely-to-join-turkish-fm" class"heading-permalink" aria-hidden"true" title"Permalink"/aEgypt likely to join: Turkish FM/h2 pEarlier, on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also said he believed Egypt could join the pact once several technical issues were resolved./p pEgypt is already our natural partner on all issues. I believe that at the next stage, Egypt will also be among us in the alliance. We already act toward one another as if we were alliance members. There are a few technical issues. Once these are implemented, there is no reason for Egypt not to be part of it, he told Turkiyes state-run emAnadolu/em news agency./p pOther countries had expressed interest in joining the agreement, but the founding members had debated how the expansion should be handled, he further stated./p pSome countries that wanted to join asked not to be named, he said, adding that the preferred model was for Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to remain the three core founding countries, responsible for establishing the principles, standards and long-term structure of the alliance, while other countries could join with the approval of the core members./p pUnder our presidents vision, we should not remain limited to three countries. We should grow, Fidan said./p pFidan also said the initiative was broader than the traditional definition of the Middle East because of Pakistans participation./p pPakistans geographical position meant the initiative went beyond the conventional definition of the Middle East and represented a broader regional perspective./p h2a id"same-as-natos-article-5" href"same-as-natos-article-5" class"heading-permalink" aria-hidden"true" title"Permalink"/aSame as Natos Article 5/h2 pFidan further elaborated on this, saying the pact was technically the same as Natos Article 5 mutual defence agreement./p pArticle 5 of the North Atlantic alliance specifies that an attack on one of its members is an attack on all of them. It obliges allies to take action they deem necessary to assist the country under attack, including potentially the use of military force./p pWhile the Makkah defence pact stipulates the same, Fidan explained that its text contained general commitments whose practical implementation would depend on discussions and decisions by relevant bodies./p pA country would need to make a request for assistance and would determine the type of support it needs, he said, adding that the requests could be of different kinds, ranging from intelligence and logistics to ammunition or, if necessary, military units, depending on the scale of the threat./p pThe signatories, he said, would decide through consultations what degree, form, and format of support they would ask for in the event of an attack, but that no country would be considered a threat as long as a member state is not attacked./p pFidan also said that the new alliance was not directed against Iran or any other country, but rather served as a general pledge to support the three signatories security./p pHe further told emAnadolu/em that discussions on the initiative began before the current war environment, when there was no US-Israel war on Iran and other regional countries had also been involved in the talks leading to the agreement./p pFidan said its signatories were countries that did not have expansionist policies. They are countries concerned with their own borders, their own problems and their development, and, if possible, they want to contribute positively to their environment through good relations and good neighbourliness./p pThe three countries, he said, had different styles and capacities, but when brought together, they naturally formed a defence-oriented organisation rather than an offensive one./p pIt is not an approach of going on the offensive and saying, Lets do this or that together. Therefore, unless it is attacked by a country, whether from inside or outside the region, this alliance cannot have any dispute with any country. But, of course, the power composition we have put forward will make a constructive contribution to regional stability, he said./p pHe termed the pact the most important step toward bringing lasting stability to this region./p h2a id"how-will-the-alliance-function" href"how-will-the-alliance-function" class"heading-permalink" aria-hidden"true" title"Permalink"/aHow will the alliance function?/h2 pAccording to Fidan, the pact would be operational under a political and military committee comprising foreign and defence ministers and chiefs of general staff, similar to Nato structures./p pThe committee would translate the vision set by the leaders into decisions and carry out related work, while a secretariat would be established to implement those decisions, he explained./p pAt the first committee meeting, ministers would likely present proposals to the leaders on the establishment, structure and functioning of the secretariat, as well as its initial tasks, he said, adding that the pact would cover a broad range of military issues, including interoperability, or the ability of countries with different military structures to operate together. Other areas would include joint training, mutual support, logistics, threat assessments, intelligence sharing and, most importantly, defence industry cooperation./p pHe said the committee would meet at certain intervals during the year and that a permanent secretariat would be established in Saudi Arabia. The structure, functioning and additional units of the secretariat would be determined in discussions among the members./p pFidan added that joint exercises and training would be necessary to establish the ability of the countries to operate together./p pBecause after a while you will see that when you find yourselves in a common combat scenario, how your weapons systems and communications systems will communicate with one another and how they will be compatible are important issues. These are the things that will be done after the secretariat is established, he said./p pHe said standards would need to be developed and that analyses and assessments would also be carried out./p h2a id"support-in-the-muslim-world-and-the-west" href"support-in-the-muslim-world-and-the-west" class"heading-permalink" aria-hidden"true" title"Permalink"/aSupport in the Muslim world and the West/h2 pFidan said the defence agreement had received strong support from countries in the Muslim world, including those that were not members but were nevertheless very pleased with the agreement./p pHe said there were also supporters in the West who understood the substance of the initiative./p pEspecially in the Islamic world, there are many who strongly support this issue. There are also supporters in the West, among those who understand the essence of the matter. The way for the Middle East to cease being a place that produces problems for humanity and the international community and instead become a place that creates added value with everything it possesses is through implementing constructive alliances of this kind, Fidan said./p pFidan said the leadership of Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had created significant regional and global expectations and that officials now had the responsibility to fill those expectations professionally./p pOur responsibility, in the positions we hold, is to recognise that the political will put forward by the leadership of the three countries has created a very significant regional and global expectation. We need to fill that expectation very professionally, move forward step by step and make it work. We have begun doing this, and God willing, we will continue, he said./p pThe signing of the accord comes at a time of heightened regional tensions, with Pakistan seeking to balance ties with Middle Eastern and Western partners./p pAnalysts say many in the region view the development as a step toward Gulf states taking greater responsibility for their own security./p pIsraels increasingly aggressive military posture in recent years has also emerged as an important factor shaping how Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Trkiye perceive the regional security environment, they added./p pFor decades, Saudi Arabia has relied heavily on its strategic relationship with the United States for its security. Experts note the new agreement does not replace Washington, but it does create an additional security pillar./p pThe regional states are not seeking to sever ties with Washington, but neither do they want to entrust their security exclusively to American guarantees, one analyst said./p pemAdditional input from Syed Irfan Raza/em/p
pDeputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said on Sunday that the defence pact signed between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye remained open to any country in the region willing to uphold its fundamental principles./p pHe also clarified that the agreement was purely defensive in nature./p pThe indication that an expansion of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021248"signed/a in the Saudi city on Friday, was possible came a day after the Turkish foreign minister said Egypt could be joining the pact./p pThe pact aims to strengthen collective deterrence and empowers its signatory states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them./p pDar further elaborated on the pact, which he referred to as the Makkah Accord, in a post on X./p pThe Makkah Joint Defence Agreement reflects the depth of the brotherly relations between the leadership and peoples of the three countries./p pThe Makkah Accord is the culmination of years of discussions and coordination, with a common desire to strengthen strategic cooperation in addressing multifarious peace and security challenges and advancing regional peace, stability and prosperity, he said./p blockquote class"twitter-tweet" lang"en" a href"https://twitter.com/MIshaqDar50/status/2086390289036611929"/a /blockquote pHe clarified that the pact did not abrogate or replace any existing bilateral or multilateral agreements between the signatory countries, or with other countries or organisations./p pReiterating that any external armed attack on any one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all under the pact, he said it was consistent with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter./p pMoreover, he said, the accord was purely defensive in nature./p pIt is not targeted against any country and its sole purpose is to further strengthen our ongoing efforts towards peace, stability and prosperity in the wider region./p pThe Makkah Accord remains open to any country in the region willing to uphold its fundamental principles and resolve differences through mutual respect, cooperation and peaceful means, he said, adding that the pact was consistent with the fundamental pillars of Islamabads foreign policy./p pPakistan looks forward to continuing to work closely with all brotherly countries in the region towards lasting peace and stability. We remain committed to advancing the cause of peaceful resolution of all conflicts and building a more secure, stable and prosperous future for our peoples, he concluded./p pLater in the day, Dar and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand exchanged views on the regional situation, including the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, the Foreign Office (FO) said./p pDar informed Anand of the essence of the agreement and the joint resolve of the three countries to contribute to regional peace, stability and security./p blockquote class"twitter-tweet" lang"en" a href"https://twitter.com/ForeignOfficePk/status/2086483933567590515"/a /blockquote h2a id"egypt-likely-to-join-turkish-fm" href"egypt-likely-to-join-turkish-fm" class"heading-permalink" aria-hidden"true" title"Permalink"/aEgypt likely to join: Turkish FM/h2 pEarlier, on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also said he believed Egypt could join the pact once several technical issues were resolved./p pEgypt is already our natural partner on all issues. I believe that at the next stage, Egypt will also be among us in the alliance. We already act toward one another as if we were alliance members. There are a few technical issues. Once these are implemented, there is no reason for Egypt not to be part of it, he told Turkiyes state-run emAnadolu/em news agency./p pOther countries had expressed interest in joining the agreement, but the founding members had debated how the expansion should be handled, he further stated./p pSome countries that wanted to join asked not to be named, he said, adding that the preferred model was for Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to remain the three core founding countries, responsible for establishing the principles, standards and long-term structure of the alliance, while other countries could join with the approval of the core members./p pUnder our presidents vision, we should not remain limited to three countries. We should grow, Fidan said./p pFidan also said the initiative was broader than the traditional definition of the Middle East because of Pakistans participation./p pPakistans geographical position meant the initiative went beyond the conventional definition of the Middle East and represented a broader regional perspective./p h2a id"same-as-natos-article-5" href"same-as-natos-article-5" class"heading-permalink" aria-hidden"true" title"Permalink"/aSame as Natos Article 5/h2 pFidan further elaborated on this, saying the pact was technically the same as Natos Article 5 mutual defence agreement./p pArticle 5 of the North Atlantic alliance specifies that an attack on one of its members is an attack on all of them. It obliges allies to take action they deem necessary to assist the country under attack, including potentially the use of military force./p pWhile the Makkah defence pact stipulates the same, Fidan explained that its text contained general commitments whose practical implementation would depend on discussions and decisions by relevant bodies./p pA country would need to make a request for assistance and would determine the type of support it needs, he said, adding that the requests could be of different kinds, ranging from intelligence and logistics to ammunition or, if necessary, military units, depending on the scale of the threat./p pThe signatories, he said, would decide through consultations what degree, form, and format of support they would ask for in the event of an attack, but that no country would be considered a threat as long as a member state is not attacked./p pFidan also said that the new alliance was not directed against Iran or any other country, but rather served as a general pledge to support the three signatories security./p pHe further told emAnadolu/em that discussions on the initiative began before the current war environment, when there was no US-Israel war on Iran and other regional countries had also been involved in the talks leading to the agreement./p pFidan said its signatories were countries that did not have expansionist policies. They are countries concerned with their own borders, their own problems and their development, and, if possible, they want to contribute positively to their environment through good relations and good neighbourliness./p pThe three countries, he said, had different styles and capacities, but when brought together, they naturally formed a defence-oriented organisation rather than an offensive one./p pIt is not an approach of going on the offensive and saying, Lets do this or that together. Therefore, unless it is attacked by a country, whether from inside or outside the region, this alliance cannot have any dispute with any country. But, of course, the power composition we have put forward will make a constructive contribution to regional stability, he said./p pHe termed the pact the most important step toward bringing lasting stability to this region./p h2a id"how-will-the-alliance-function" href"how-will-the-alliance-function" class"heading-permalink" aria-hidden"true" title"Permalink"/aHow will the alliance function?/h2 pAccording to Fidan, the pact would be operational under a political and military committee comprising foreign and defence ministers and chiefs of general staff, similar to Nato structures./p pThe committee would translate the vision set by the leaders into decisions and carry out related work, while a secretariat would be established to implement those decisions, he explained./p pAt the first committee meeting, ministers would likely present proposals to the leaders on the establishment, structure and functioning of the secretariat, as well as its initial tasks, he said, adding that the pact would cover a broad range of military issues, including interoperability, or the ability of countries with different military structures to operate together. Other areas would include joint training, mutual support, logistics, threat assessments, intelligence sharing and, most importantly, defence industry cooperation./p pHe said the committee would meet at certain intervals during the year and that a permanent secretariat would be established in Saudi Arabia. The structure, functioning and additional units of the secretariat would be determined in discussions among the members./p pFidan added that joint exercises and training would be necessary to establish the ability of the countries to operate together./p pBecause after a while you will see that when you find yourselves in a common combat scenario, how your weapons systems and communications systems will communicate with one another and how they will be compatible are important issues. These are the things that will be done after the secretariat is established, he said./p pHe said standards would need to be developed and that analyses and assessments would also be carried out./p h2a id"support-in-the-muslim-world-and-the-west" href"support-in-the-muslim-world-and-the-west" class"heading-permalink" aria-hidden"true" title"Permalink"/aSupport in the Muslim world and the West/h2 pFidan said the defence agreement had received strong support from countries in the Muslim world, including those that were not members but were nevertheless very pleased with the agreement./p pHe said there were also supporters in the West who understood the substance of the initiative./p pEspecially in the Islamic world, there are many who strongly support this issue. There are also supporters in the West, among those who understand the essence of the matter. The way for the Middle East to cease being a place that produces problems for humanity and the international community and instead become a place that creates added value with everything it possesses is through implementing constructive alliances of this kind, Fidan said./p pFidan said the leadership of Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had created significant regional and global expectations and that officials now had the responsibility to fill those expectations professionally./p pOur responsibility, in the positions we hold, is to recognise that the political will put forward by the leadership of the three countries has created a very significant regional and global expectation. We need to fill that expectation very professionally, move forward step by step and make it work. We have begun doing this, and God willing, we will continue, he said./p pThe signing of the accord comes at a time of heightened regional tensions, with Pakistan seeking to balance ties with Middle Eastern and Western partners./p pAnalysts say many in the region view the development as a step toward Gulf states taking greater responsibility for their own security./p pIsraels increasingly aggressive military posture in recent years has also emerged as an important factor shaping how Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Trkiye perceive the regional security environment, they added./p pFor decades, Saudi Arabia has relied heavily on its strategic relationship with the United States for its security. Experts note the new agreement does not replace Washington, but it does create an additional security pillar./p pThe regional states are not seeking to sever ties with Washington, but neither do they want to entrust their security exclusively to American guarantees, one analyst said./p pemAdditional input from Syed Irfan Raza/em/p
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