Lieutenant General (Retd) Nauman Mahmood Appointed as First Secretary General of Makkah Joint Defense Agreement
RIYADH: The government has appointed, officially, Lieutenant General (Retd) Nauman Mahmood (Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Military) as the first Secretary General of Makkah Joint Defense Agreement in a historic step towards institutionalizing regional security architecture. Retired Lt Gen Nauman Mahmood will head the General Secretariat of the alliance, which is being set up in the Saudi capital Riyadh, according to an official statement released by the Foreign Office.
The historic joint defence arrangement was first formalised with Saudi Arabia on 17 September 2025 with the signing of the pact by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Qasr al-Yamama.The security structure grew in scope and strength and eventually became a strong tripartite alliance with the formal accession of Türkiye.
The signature ceremony was held at a high level in Makkah, attended by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Within the framework of the fundamental provisions of the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, any military aggression or armed attack against one of the three member states is officially considered and treated as an attack against all member states, thus creating strong mutual deterrence.
Lt Gen (Retd) Nauman Mahmood, as the first Secretary General, will be responsible for operating and establish the administrative setup at the secretariat in Riyadh, and guide the strategic coordination and joint defense efforts between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.