ISLAMABAD: Retired Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood has been appointed the first secretary general of the Makkah Defence Alliance, the trilateral defence framework involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office announced the appointment on September 23, saying Lt Gen Mahmood will lead the alliance’s General Secretariat, which is being established in Riyadh. The secretariat is intended to provide the institutional structure for the alliance’s work.
The appointment follows the August 31 inaugural meeting of the alliance’s Strategic Political and Defence Committee in Istanbul, where member states agreed that Pakistan would initially head the secretariat. The initial term for the Pakistani secretary general is three years.
Military Career and Education
Nauman Mahmood was commissioned into the Pakistan Army in September 1987 in the Baloch Regiment. During his military career, he served in field command, intelligence, strategic analysis and professional military education.
He is a graduate of the Command and Staff College, Quetta, the Command and Staff College in Egypt and the National Defence University in Islamabad. He also holds a master’s degree in War Studies.
A significant part of his career was spent at the Command and Staff College, where he served in various instructional positions and later became chief instructor.
As a major general, Mahmood commanded an infantry division in North Waziristan, where the Pakistan Army had been conducting counterterrorism operations.
Intelligence, Corps Command and NDU
Mahmood later served as director general of the Analysis Directorate at Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), where his responsibilities included assessing developments abroad from a national security perspective and liaising with foreign intelligence agencies.
He was promoted to lieutenant general in April 2019 and appointed inspector general of Communications and Information Technology at General Headquarters.
In December 2019, he took command of XI Corps in Peshawar. His tenure coincided with significant developments along Pakistan’s western border, including preparations for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and continued efforts to secure and fence the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier.
He relinquished command of XI Corps in November 2021 and was subsequently appointed president of the National Defence University in Islamabad, becoming the institution’s 35th head. He remained in the position until retiring from the army in April 2023.
Role in the Makkah Defence Alliance
The Makkah Defence Alliance was established through an agreement signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye on August 7, 2026. The agreement provides a framework for defence cooperation among the three countries.
The alliance’s General Secretariat is being established in Riyadh, with the secretary general responsible for leading the administrative body and supporting the implementation of the alliance’s institutional arrangements.
Mahmood’s appointment therefore places him at the centre of the alliance’s initial institutional setup, as the three participating countries work to establish its administrative machinery and mechanisms for defence cooperation.
The three countries have also agreed to further institutionalise their cooperation under the agreement. Reports have noted discussions about possible future expansion of the framework, although there has been no confirmation of additional members from Cairo regarding Egypt.