Dar talks bilateral issues with Saudi, Turkiye FMs

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday held separate telephone conversations with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt, discussing bilateral and regional issues.

The Foreign Office (FO), in a series of posts on social media platform X, said Dar held telephonic talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.

In his call with the Saudi foreign minister, the two leaders discussed regional and international developments, including matters of mutual interest at multilateral fora. “They also discussed follow-up on the understandings reached at the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee of the Makkah Defence Alliance, held in Istanbul, and agreed to remain in close contact,” the FO said.  Dar also spoke to Fidan and thanked him for hosting the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in Istanbul on August 31.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye in Makkah on August 7. It provides that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against all three, and calls for enhanced defence cooperation among them. The FO said the two followed up on understandings reached at the Istanbul meeting and discussed ways to further advance cooperation under the framework.

“The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on regional and international developments. They also discussed matters of mutual interest and opportunities to further strengthen cooperation at multilateral fora,” FO added.

Earlier in the day, Dar held a conversation with Abdelatty and exchanged views on Pakistan-Egypt bilateral relations and regional and international developments.

Abdelatty invited Dar to “hold a bilateral visit to Egypt at his earliest convenience”, the FO said.

They also reaffirmed their commitment to remaining “engaged and involved” on regional security matters and agreed to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this month.