The defence production minister indicates that a defence agreement involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey is forthcoming.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have formulated a draft defence agreement following nearly a year of negotiations, as stated by Pakistan’s Minister for Defence Production, indicating their potential aim to establish a safeguard against escalating regional violence observed in the past two years.

Raza Hayat Harraj informed Reuters that the prospective agreement among the three regional nations is distinct from the bilateral Saudi-Pakistani Agreement declared last year. A conclusive agreement among the three states is required to finalise the accord, he stated.

Harraj stated in an interview that the trilateral agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey is already under progress.

The draft agreement is currently in our possession. The preliminary deal is currently with Saudi Arabia. The draft agreement is currently accessible to Turkey. All three nations are engaged in deliberation. This agreement has been in effect for the past 10 months.

During a news conference in Istanbul on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan addressed enquiries over media reports on negotiations among the three parties, stating that discussions had occurred, but no agreement had been formalised.

Fidan emphasised the necessity for enhanced regional collaboration and confidence to mitigate the distrust that generates “cracks and problems,” resulting in the rise of external hegemonies, conflicts, and instability due to terrorism in the region.