ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said the trilateral defence agreement signed in Makkah by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye is purely defensive in character and open to other countries in the region.

The accord — under which an armed attack on any one of the three states is to be treated as an attack on all — was signed on 7 August by the Saudi Crown Prince, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Erdogan, and has been framed by all three capitals as a mechanism for collective deterrence rather than a military bloc.

Dar stressed that the agreement is not targeted at any country. The Turkish foreign minister has separately suggested that Egypt could join the pact. The OIC has welcomed the arrangement, describing it as an important strategic step and a foundational pillar for regional security and stability, with Bahrain and Somalia also issuing supportive statements.

At home, the pact has already begun shaping public life. Islamabad police held a flag march to mark the agreement, while Lahore has illuminated its landmark buildings with the flags of all three countries ahead of Independence Day.