Lt Gen (retd) Nauman Mahmood Named First Secretary-General of Makkah Alliance
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Retired Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood has been appointed the first secretary-general of the defence framework established by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, according to reports on Wednesday.
The appointment gives Pakistan the inaugural leadership of the alliance’s secretariat as the three countries move to institutionalise the collective-defence arrangement signed earlier this year.
The decision for a Pakistani to serve as the first secretary-general was agreed before Mahmood’s appointment. An official Pakistani Foreign Ministry briefing on September 2 confirmed that a secretariat headed by a secretary-general would be established in Saudi Arabia, with Pakistan providing its first head for a three-year term.
The arrangement was agreed at the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee in Istanbul on August 31. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye said they would further institutionalise their cooperation while strengthening solidarity, collective deterrence and defence.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after that meeting that the secretariat would be established in Riyadh and that its first secretary-general would come from Pakistan. He described the framework as defensive and said it was not directed against any specific country.
Who is Lt Gen (retd) Nauman Mahmood?
Nauman Mahmood is a retired senior Pakistan Army officer and recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military). His selection places a former military officer at the head of the alliance’s developing permanent institutional structure.
As secretary-general, he will take charge as the three founding members work to develop mechanisms for coordination, joint activities and defence cooperation.
The August 31 joint statement said the three countries intended to enhance the capabilities and cohesion of their armed forces through joint activities, defence-industry cooperation, joint production and technology development.
What is the Makkah Defence Framework?
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on August 7, 2026. Under the arrangement, an armed attack against one of the three countries is to be treated as an attack against all three.
The framework has emerged amid heightened security tensions across the Middle East and seeks to deepen defence coordination among the three countries.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has stressed that the arrangement is defensive in nature. On September 10, the ministry said the three member states were holding regular consultations but that expansion was not currently planned while they worked to consolidate the organisation.
The founding states have also said their cooperation is intended to support regional peace and stability, de-escalation and peaceful resolution of crises alongside strengthening collective deterrence.
Nauman Mahmood’s appointment represents another step in moving the framework from a political and defence agreement towards a more permanent institutional structure.
The three-year Pakistani leadership of the Riyadh-based secretariat is expected to cover the alliance’s initial phase of institution-building and coordination, although detailed public information about the secretary-general’s specific operational powers remains limited.
