India, Aug. 31 -- The first formal meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement Alliance in Istanbul is set to provide an early indication of how far the three-member security framework intends to expand.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey will discuss defence cooperation, military interoperability, intelligence-sharing, joint defence production, regional security and the creation of a permanent secretariat when senior officials meet in Istanbul on Monday.

The talks could also address the possibility of bringing additional countries into the alliance, according to Turkish Foreign Ministry sources cited by BBC Urdu.

For Bangladesh, which has been discussed as a possible future participant,...