pPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday affirmed that the recently signed Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was entirely for defensive purposes, and not for any aggression./p pThe joint defence agreement, a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021248"signed/a on August 7 between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, 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 pAddressing the federal cabinet on Monday, PM Shehbaz recalled that he, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021248"signed the pact/a in Makkah on Friday./p pThe prime minister stressed that the objective of the pact is to promote peace, progress, and prosperity in the region./p pIts purpose is definitely not that any aggression occurs. It is entirely for defensive purposes, for peace, tranquillity and progress in the region, he affirmed./p pI believe this agreement is a source of strength not just among these three countries, but for the entire Muslim ummah, he noted./p pPM Shehbaz particularly felicitated Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar as well as Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir on the signing of the agreement./p pEfforts for the joint defence pact had been underway for many years and materialised this Friday, the prime minister said./p pHe noted that while Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had already entered the a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/1942611"Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement/a in September 2025, Islamabad and Ankara also had arrangements for decades between them./p pPM Shehbaz recalled that the Pakistani nation and the army had been honoured to defend the worlds holiest places of Makkah and Madina for years along with the Saudi forces./p pLast year, with Allahs grace, this arrangement was officially recognised so that a proper agreement was signed. Fridays agreement is another extension of it, with a trilateral agreement signed./p pIn a statement issued by the Foreign Office earlier in the day, Dar felicitated the nation on the agreements signing. He reiterated his a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021671"comments from Sunday/a wherein he said the pact was defensive in nature and not directed against any country./p pDar also noted that the term of treating an attack on one of them as an attack against all three was consistent with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter./p blockquote class"twitter-tweet" lang"en" a href"https://twitter.com/ForeignOfficePk/status/2086753209931202839"/a /blockquote pThe Makkah Joint Defence Agreement has been hailed by the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as an important strategic step./p pa href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021886/iran-says-pak-saudi-turkiye-deal-shows-change-in-perception-towards-us::textDar20speaks20with20Kuwait20FM2C20others20on20pact"Kuwait/a, Bahrain and Somalia are among the countries that have welcomed it. Irans a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021886/iran-says-pak-saudi-turkiye-deal-shows-change-in-perception-towards-us"comments/a also took a rather positive tone, stressing its stance of pursuing security mechanisms based on cooperation between regional countries./p h2a id"once-in-power-ajk-govt-will-offer-dialogue-to-those-willing" href"once-in-power-ajk-govt-will-offer-dialogue-to-those-willing" class"heading-permalink" aria-hidden"true" title"Permalink"/aOnce in power, AJK govt will offer dialogue to those willing/h2 pSpeaking on Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), PM Shehbaz favoured dialogue with protesters who have been at odds with the authorities over the 12 seats reserved for refugees and other issues, leading to a tense situation in the region for the past two months./p pHe said that once the new government comes to power in AJK with PML-N already claiming a two-thirds majority the matter of continuing talks with the protesters will progress./p pThe prime minister declared that those who only want to cause anarchy will not be allowed to do so, but those who want to peacefully and patiently discuss the situation, the new government will provide a chance for that./p pIn any respected society, no permission can be given for lawlessness. If there is any demand or any matters, they should be resolved through talks at a table, he said./p blockquote class"twitter-tweet" lang"en" a href"https://twitter.com/GovtofPakistan/status/2086830846162370695"/a /blockquote pPM Shehbaz went on to say that the government had clear evidence that those who purposefully worsened the situation there were working on the directives of the enemy./p pHe recalled that despite that, the government had held a multi-party conference in Muzaffarabad before the elections, with only one political party being absent apparently referring to the PTI which has boycotted the polls./p pEvery aspect was discussed there, and those who wanted refugee seats to be changed, reduced or abolished were advised to let the elections go on as planned and bring forward their case in the new assembly, he said, adding that this would resolve the matter as per the constitution of AJK./p pAll matters were settled, but they remained adamant on this and needlessly insisted, which unfortunately worsened the situation, the prime minister said./p pSpeaking about the ongoing elections in AJK, PM Shehbaz asserted that Kashmiris have overwhelmingly voted for his PML-N./p pThe PML-N has so far bagged a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2020894"24 seats/a out of a total 45 a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2018960/pml-n-grabs-9-out-of-13-seats-across-ajks-mirpur-division-unofficial-results-show"nine from Mirpur/a polls a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2018691/polling-concludes-in-mirpur-division-as-scuffles-rigging-allegations-mar-first-phase-of-ajk-elections"held/a on July 27 and a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2020768"15/a in the a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2020095"second phase/a comprising Muzaffarabad Division and the 12 refugee seats. The third phase of elections in Poonch Division a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021864/3rd-phase-of-ajk-elections-polling-concludes-in-poonch-divisions-bagh-haveli-districts"began today/a./p pThe prime minister noted that based on the results from Mirpur and Muzaffarabad divisions, along with the seats reserved for refugees from India-held Kashmir, the PML-N has almost established a majority./p pThis vote is a vote of trust in Mian Nawaz Sharif and for his leadership. I am hopeful that once we set up a government there, under his leadership, AJK will once again set out on the journey to progress and prosperity, he said, thanking those who voted for his party./p h2a id"terrorists-being-annihilated-day-and-night" href"terrorists-being-annihilated-day-and-night" class"heading-permalink" aria-hidden"true" title"Permalink"/aTerrorists being annihilated day and night/h2 pAt the federal cabinet meeting, PM Shehbaz also touched upon the issue of terrorism in the country and mentioned the lives lost in recent terrorist attacks./p pHe noted that terrorists escalated their activities in some areas of Pakistan in the past few days./p blockquote class"twitter-tweet" lang"en" a href"https://twitter.com/GovtofPakistan/status/2086827578795364440"/a /blockquote pThe premier recalled the August 2 a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2020154"Swat suicide bombing/a that a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2020350"claimed 17 lives/a and the martyrdom of Deputy Superintendent of Police Diyar Khan in an a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2019442"attack/a on a Hangu police checkpost./p pHe paid tribute to the sacrifices of the personnel, including Captain Hamza Akram and Major Hafiz Ihsan Elahi, who were martyred during operations in a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2021456"Hangu/a and a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2020044"North Waziristan/a, respectively./p pThe prime minister affirmed that emFitna Al Khawarij/em are being annihilated day and night, referring to terrorists affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)./p pThese sacrifices will not go in vain and will bear fruition. One day will come when Pakistan will once again be free from terrorism and will move rapidly towards peace and progress, PM Shehbaz said./p pThe prime minister also expressed his condolences over the a href"https://www.dawn.com/news/2019919"death/a of PML-N MNA Malik Muhammad Iqbal Channar, describing him as a longtime friend./p pHe was a person who was a supporter in bad times, he said, adding that he and PML-N President Nawaz Sharif knew Channar since 1985. The cabinet also prayed for the elevated ranks of the martyrs and Channar./p

Source: Dawn News

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