Pakistan has appointed retired Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood as the first Secretary General of the alliance formed under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement. The appointment was announced by the Foreign Office on September 23, 2026.
Nauman Mahmood, who holds the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military), will lead the alliance’s General Secretariat, which is being established in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The secretariat will serve as the main administrative body for cooperation between the three member countries.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in Makkah on August 7, 2026. Under the agreement, an armed attack against one member is to be treated as an attack against all three countries. The pact also provides a framework for closer defence cooperation.
The decision to establish a permanent secretariat was taken during the first Strategic Political and Defence Committee meeting in Istanbul on August 31. The three countries agreed that Pakistan would provide the first Secretary General for a three-year term.
Mahmood previously served as president of Pakistan’s National Defence University and commanded XI Corps in Peshawar. He retired from the Pakistan Army in 2023.
