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Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia will form political and military mechanisms under a defence pact<\/a> signed between the regional powers last week, Turkiye\u2019s defence ministry said on Thursday, adding the alliance would also deepen defence industry cooperation.<\/p>\n The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed<\/u><\/a> last week as the Middle East grapples with fallout from the US-Israeli war on Iran<\/u><\/a>, which has dragged in regional players and disrupted shipping<\/u><\/a> through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.<\/p>\n At a weekly briefing in Ankara, the ministry said the mechanisms would include the three countries\u2019 defence ministers, foreign ministers, and military chiefs.<\/p>\n It added that the joint military exercises were also being planned under the pact, while cooperation could include joint production and technology sharing in the defence industry.<\/p>\n The remarks come a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said <\/a>that he hoped more countries would join the agreement.<\/p>\n \u201cOur vision for it is not limited to the three countries,\u201d the Turkish leader told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat<\/u><\/em><\/a> daily.<\/p>\n \u201cRather, we aspire for it to grow, and perhaps appropriate conditions will emerge one day for all countries of the region to gather under its umbrella.\u201d<\/p>\n Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday said Turkiye expected<\/u><\/a> Egypt to join the pact \u201cin the next stage\u201d, telling the Anadolu<\/em> state news agency only \u201ca few technical issues\u201d stood in the way.<\/p>\n Egypt has not commented on the agreement nor on the remarks by Fidan, who will visit Cairo<\/u><\/a> on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n Kuwait<\/u><\/a>, Bahrain and Somalia are among the countries that have welcomed it. Iran\u2019s comments<\/u><\/a> also took a rather positive tone, stressing its stance of pursuing \u201csecurity mechanisms based on cooperation between regional countries\u201d.<\/p>\n