Lt Gen (retd) Nauman Mahmood appointed first secretary general of Makkah Pact

Pakistan was designated to hold the post for an initial three-year term.Last year, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark "Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement", declaring that "any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both".

On August 7, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye formalised their longstanding strategic relationship through the newly signed "Makkah Joint Defence Agreement", a trilateral security framework that its proponents describe as a defensive arrangement aimed at strengthening collective deterrence, enhancing military cooperation and promoting regional stability.The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was the latest step in longstanding military and strategic cooperation between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

Signed in Makkah, the pact established a framework for collective deterrence and stipulated that an armed attack on any one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all three, while providing for wider cooperation across defence.The agreement followed nearly a year of negotiations and came amid heightened instability across the Middle East.

Türkiye and Pakistan had sought closer regional security cooperation, while Saudi Arabia had faced growing security concerns as conflicts spread across the region, threatening its territory, energy infrastructure and ambitious economic development plans.For Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the trilateral pact built on their Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed in September 2025.

That agreement stated that “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both” and committed the two sides to strengthening defence cooperation and joint deterrence.The three countries already had extensive military links.

Pakistan had provided training and technical assistance to Saudi forces for decades, while Islamabad and Ankara had maintained close defence ties through military training, naval cooperation and defence equipment.

In 2023, Saudi Arabia agreed to purchase Turkish drones in what Ankara described as its largest defence export contract.Pakistan had also expanded its military and security cooperation with the kingdom, deploying about 8,000 troops, fighter jets, drones and an air-defence system to Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters.

Pakistan deploys troops to Saudi air base under defence pact Islamabad had also been pursuing wider security and economic ties in the Gulf, including negotiations with Kuwait on an expanded cooperation pact linked to energy and investment.

Pakistan-Kuwait agree to boost cooperation across key sectorsThe signing in Makkah, Islam’s holiest city, added symbolic weight to an agreement that brought together three countries with significant military and strategic capabilities.

It also came as Pakistan sought to avoid becoming directly involved in the Iran conflict, instead pursuing diplomatic efforts to mediate, while strengthening its broader regional security partnerships.

Lt Gen (retd) Nauman Mahmood appointed first secretary general of Makkah Pact The secretary general will lead the General Secretariat of the alliance being established in Riyadh: MoFA Web Desk | Updated 29 seconds ago |.