Pakistan has appointed Lieutenant General (retired) Nauman Mahmood as the first secretary general of the Makkah Defence Alliance. The Foreign Office announced the appointment on Wednesday, September 23.
Mahmood will lead the alliance’s General Secretariat, which the three member countries are establishing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The appointment follows last month’s agreement on the leadership and location of the secretariat.
The alliance brings together Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye under a joint defence framework signed last month. Mahmood becomes its first secretary general as the members put their institutional arrangements into place.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had confirmed on August 31 that a Pakistani would hold the position. He also announced Riyadh as the secretariat’s headquarters during a media briefing in Istanbul.
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Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the “Makkah Joint Defence Agreement” on August 7. The members subsequently adopted the name “Makkah Defence Alliance”.
The three countries held the inaugural meeting of their Strategic Political and Defence Committee in Istanbul on August 31. They established the committee under the tripartite agreement to advance political and defence cooperation.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif represented Pakistan at the meeting. Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir joined them as Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces.
Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman also attended the high-level discussions. Turkiye’s delegation included Fidan, National Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Turkish General Staff Chief Selcuk Bayraktaroglu.
Officials from the three countries have described the alliance as a pledge to support their collective security. They have stressed that it does not target any country.
Fidan outlined several principles governing the framework during his August 31 briefing. These include international law, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and non-interference in countries’ domestic affairs.
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He said the alliance would promote regional peace, security, stability and prosperity. He also described it as complementary to other alliances involving its members. Friendly countries that accept these principles could participate, he added.
The members are also considering how to expand the alliance beyond its three founding countries. Reuters reported that Fidan announced work on a roadmap for admitting additional members after the Istanbul meeting.
Fidan previously told Anadolu that Turkiye expected Egypt to join “in the next stage”. He said only “a few technical issues” stood in the way.
Bangladesh has also signalled interest in joining the framework. Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir said Dhaka maintained a positive approach towards an economic or defence arrangement involving the three countries.
Kobir said Bangladesh would consider its own interests alongside changing global economic and trade dynamics when assessing such participation.
