Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan establish joint defence pact secretariat

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have established a secretariat to administer their joint defence pact, according to a statement released by the three countries on Monday. The administrative body will be based in Saudi Arabia and will operate under the framework of the Mecca agreement, a trilateral defence arrangement among the three nations. A Pakistani official will serve as the secretariat's secretary-general for an initial three-year term, the countries confirmed in their joint statement. The secretariat's creation represents a concrete step toward operationalising the defence agreement, which aims to enhance military and security cooperation among the three strategically significant regional powers. The move signals the countries' commitment to formalising institutional mechanisms for coordinating defence and security matters.