ISTANBUL — Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said Monday that Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan had reaffirmed their commitment to activating the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement in a way that strengthens integration and advances regional security and stability.Prince Khalid, who led the Kingdom’s delegation to the first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee in Istanbul, said the talks marked an important step toward implementing the agreement.“I was pleased to lead the Kingdom’s delegation in the first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee,” Prince Khalid said.“We affirmed our commitment to activating the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement pathways in a way that strengthens integration and advances security and stability.”Prince Khalid also highlighted the depth of the strategic relations between Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan, stressing that the security of the three countries is interconnected.He said confronting common challenges and threats requires political coordination, defense integration and collective military readiness.The meeting brought together the foreign and defense ministers and military chiefs of Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan as the three countries began establishing the institutional mechanisms needed to implement the trilateral defense agreement.Following the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the pact had launched a process to establish a new security and cooperation architecture in the region.“With this agreement, the process of testing a new security and cooperation architecture in our region has begun,” Fidan said.He stressed the need for regional countries to work together to achieve security, stability, prosperity and lasting peace, adding that greater stability would also create stronger conditions for investment and development.Fidan said the agreement was designed to allow other countries to join in the future, but stressed that the founding members must first establish a strong institutional framework and clear conditions, procedures and standards for accession.“The alliance was established with the aim of expanding. But at the outset, its foundations need to be laid very well, and its institutionalization also needs to be carried out very well,” he said.Fidan said Saudi Arabia and Pakistan shared Türkiye’s view that the agreement should first develop into a strong and effectively functioning structure capable of addressing regional challenges before admitting additional members.He said the three countries were working on a roadmap for the accession process and that discussions would be required with both prospective members and the existing parties.“We are now working together to complete the difficult part, which is the establishment phase,” Fidan said.Alongside Prince Khalid, Saudi Arabia was represented by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Chief of the General Staff Gen. Fayyadh Al-Ruwaili.Türkiye’s delegation included Fidan, National Defense Minister Yasar Guler and Chief of General Staff Gen. Selcuk Bayraktaroglu. Pakistan was represented by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.The Strategic Political and Defense Committee was established to provide strategic direction for activities under the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement and oversee the development of mechanisms for trilateral defense and security cooperation.Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the agreement in Makkah on Aug. 7.The agreement establishes a collective defense commitment under which an attack against any one of the three countries is considered an attack against all parties.