Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has departed for Istanbul to attend a meeting of R-4 bloc foreign ministers and an R-4+E-3 meeting on Friday, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

The R-4 group, comprising Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, emerged in March and has been focusing on regional security and mediation efforts between the United States and Iran.

The E-3 group comprises three European powers — France, the United Kingdom and Germany — that established the grouping more than 20 years ago to advance diplomatic coordination on Iran’s nuclear programme.

The FO said DPM Dar will be attending the meeting on October 23 (today) at the invitation of Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Following the R-4 meeting, the ministers would participate in a meeting with the foreign ministers of the European E-3 bloc, consisting of the UK, France and Germany, the statement added.

“This will be the first meeting of the seven countries in this format,” FO said.

“The meetings will focus on key regional developments and explore coordinated diplomatic approaches to address shared challenges and advance regional peace and stability,” FO added.

DPM Dar is also set to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts during his visit as well.

“Pakistan’s participation reflects its continued commitment to constructive diplomacy, regional cooperation and the peaceful resolution of disputes,” FO said.

A Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters a day earlier that the seven countries would meet in the R-4+E-3 format for the first time at Turkiye’s initiative as wars involving Iran, Yemen and Ukraine threaten shipping routes and regional security.

The ministers are expected to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the latest situation in the Strait of Hormuz, developments related to Yemen, efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, and opportunities for closer cooperation between the regional and European countries, the source added.

Fidan is expected to emphasise the need for a diplomatic solution to the war between the United States and Iran, the importance of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb, and reiterate Turkiye’s support for Saudi Arabia’s security against attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement signed by Islamabad, Ankara, and Riyadh, they said.

The Makkah defence pact, signed on Aug 7, aims to strengthen collective deterrence and empower its signatory states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them.