Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad on Friday and briefed him on a recently signed defence pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, according to a statement issued by the Presidency.

For his part, President Zardari “expressed his best wishes for the effective implementation of the tripartite agreement with regard to defence cooperation, regional peace and stability and promotion of the security of the Muslim ummah”, the Presidency’s statement on its X account said.

He also appreciated PM Shehbaz’s and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir’s efforts for “further strengthening the longstanding fraternal relations between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan into a robust strategic partnership”, the statement added.

The joint defence agreement, signed on August 7 in Makkah, aims to strengthen collective deterrence and empowers its signatory states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them.

Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia will form political and military mechanisms under the defence pact, Turkiye’s defence ministry said on Thursday, adding the alliance would also deepen defence industry cooperation.

Both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Dar have said the pact is defensive in nature, with the latter saying that it is also “open to any country in the region” willing to uphold its fundamental principles.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday said Turkiye expected Egypt to join the pact “in the next stage”, telling the Anadolu state news agency only “a few technical issues” stood in the way.

Egypt has not commented on the agreement nor on the remarks by Fidan.

Meanwhile, Kuwait, Bahrain and Somalia are among the countries that have welcomed it. Iran’s comments also took a rather positive tone, stressing its stance of pursuing “security mechanisms based on cooperation between regional countries”.

More to follow