Dar in Turkiye for key meet with European FMs

Author: Sajjad Hussain

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar reached Turkiye on Friday to attend a key meeting of foreign ministers of select regional and European countries, as Islamabad and Ankara deepen cooperation through emerging diplomatic and defence groupings.

Dar, who is also the Foreign Minister, will participate in the R4 and R4+ ministerial meetings during his one-day official visit, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Office.

R4 is a forum comprising Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye, which meets to discuss regional issues, whereas the R4+ consists of the four countries alongside France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Friday’s meeting marks the first time the four countries are meeting as a group with foreign ministers from key European nations, with regional security issues expected to figure prominently in the discussions.

The growing cooperation comes amid heightened tensions in the West Asian region, including renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Houthis, and concerns over a possible fresh confrontation between the United States and Iran.

During his daylong visit, Dar met Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Istanbul, where the two leaders reviewed bilateral relations and exchanged views on regional developments, particularly the situation in West Asia and Palestine, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

They expressed concern over threats to regional stability and underscored the importance of dialogue, diplomacy and coordinated efforts to promote regional peace and security.

“Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the longstanding bonds of friendship and brotherhood between Pakistan and Turkiye, and to deepening cooperation across all areas of mutual interest, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora,” the Foreign Office said.

The two sides also strongly condemned the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed their commitment to close coordination on regional issues, including under the Makkah Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia.

Under the agreement, which was signed in August, an attack against one of the three countries would be treated as an attack against all of them.