Pakistan names retired Lt Gen Nauman Mahmood first Makkah alliance chief

Pakistan has appointed Lieutenant General (retired) Nauman Mahmood as the first Secretary General of the Makkah Defence Alliance, the Foreign Office announced on Wednesday.

According to the Foreign Office, the newly appointed Secretary General will lead the alliance’s General Secretariat. The secretariat is being established in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The appointment follows an earlier announcement by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. He had confirmed last month that Pakistan would provide the Secretary General for the trilateral defence framework involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement on August 7. The agreement was subsequently renamed the Makkah Defence Alliance.

The three countries have since taken steps to establish the alliance’s institutional structure. An inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee was held in Istanbul last month.

The committee was created under the trilateral agreement to strengthen coordination among the three countries on political and defence matters.

Pakistan was represented at the meeting by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, and Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.

Saudi Arabia was represented by Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman. Turkish participants included Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Minister of National Defence Yasar Guler and Chief of the Turkish General Staff Selcuk Bayraktaroglu.

Officials from the three countries have said the alliance is not aimed at any particular country. They have described it as a framework for closer cooperation and a commitment to support the security of the three participating states.

The establishment of the General Secretariat in Riyadh is expected to provide a permanent institutional structure for the alliance. The Secretary General will oversee the secretariat and coordinate its work under the agreement.

Fidan has also previously indicated that Türkiye expected Egypt to join the framework at a later stage. He said only a few technical matters needed to be resolved before Egypt could become part of the arrangement.

Bangladesh has also expressed interest in the possibility of joining a broader framework involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kabir said Dhaka maintained a positive approach towards joining an economic or defence arrangement involving the three countries.

He said Bangladesh would consider its own national interests as well as changing global economic and trade conditions before making any decision.