PM says Pakistan, Turkiye to push diplomacy alongside defence build-up
Shehbaz Sharif told a Republic Day event in Islamabad that the Makkah Defence Agreement, signed on August 7, strengthens the two countries' collective deterrence.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that Pakistan and Turkiye would continue to champion dialogue and diplomacy while strengthening their defences under the Makkah Defence Agreement, Dawn reported.
The prime minister was speaking in Islamabad at an event marking Turkiye's 103rd national day. Pakistan and Turkiye maintain strong bilateral ties and multi-sectoral cooperation, Dawn reported.
According to Dawn's account of the address, the prime minister described the pact, signed on August 7 between Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, as an "important milestone" in cooperation between Islamabad and Ankara. "It strengthens our collective deterrence," he was quoted as saying.
Dunya News, reporting on the same event, said the prime minister presented the defence pact as a reflection of regional security and collective defence.
Published accounts of the speech carried only excerpts. The full text of the prime minister's address, and any further detail on the terms of the agreement or on how the two countries intend to take it forward, were not immediately available in the reports.
Neither report said what specific measures Pakistan and Turkiye had agreed to under the pact, beyond the prime minister's reference to collective deterrence and to continued diplomacy alongside military strengthening.
The event was held to mark the Turkish republic's national day, an annual occasion that Islamabad has regularly observed given the two countries' close relations.
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