ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has appointed Lieutenant General (Retired) Nauman Mahmood, Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military), as the first Secretary General of the Secretariat being established under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lt Gen (Retd) Nauman Mahmood will head the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement Secretariat, which is being established in Riyadh.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye in Makkah on August 7, 2026. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed the agreement.

Under the agreement, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye agreed to strengthen collective defence and defence cooperation. A key provision of the agreement states that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all three.

A permanent General Secretariat is being established in Riyadh to provide an institutional framework for defence cooperation under the Makkah Agreement. The Secretariat will serve as a central platform for coordination among the three countries, joint activities and implementation of matters agreed under the defence pact.

The decision to establish the General Secretariat and appoint a Pakistani representative as its first Secretary General was taken at a meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee in Istanbul on August 31, 2026.

The appointment of Lt Gen (Retd) Nauman Mahmood marks a step towards giving the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement a permanent institutional structure. He will lead the Secretariat in Riyadh and facilitate defence cooperation and coordination among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.