Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey advance defence pact

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey agreed to move immediately toward implementing collective-defence commitments and arranging the rapid deployment of agreed forces and military capabilities to Saudi Arabia, following a committee meeting in Riyadh on October 5. The joint statement described the next steps but did not specify the size, timing or composition of any new deployment. The meeting of the Makkah Alliance for Defence’s Strategic Political and Defence Committee focused in part on putting the pact’s organisational structure in place. Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the structure had been formalised and the appointment of a secretary-general ratified. Retired Pakistani Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood was named the alliance’s first secretary-general for a three-year term, according to the committee account. Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said Pakistani troops have been stationed in Saudi Arabia for decades. He said those present under the Makkah Agreement serve in different domains, without specifying their numbers, locations or duties.