Pakistan names first head of Mecca Pact secretariat

Pakistan on Wednesday, September 23, appointed retired Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood as the first secretary-general of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, a trilateral defence pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

Mahmood will head the alliance’s General Secretariat, which is being established in Riyadh, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said.

The three countries agreed in August to establish the secretariat as part of efforts to institutionalise cooperation under the pact. The secretariat will initially be headed by a Pakistani secretary-general for a three-year term.

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan on August 7. It stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against all three and provides a framework for expanding defence cooperation.

Mahmood served as president of Pakistan’s National Defence University in Islamabad from November 2021 to April 2023. He joined the Pakistan Army in 1987 and retired from military service in 2023.

The first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee established under the agreement was held in Istanbul on August 31. The three countries agreed at the meeting to further institutionalise their cooperation and strengthen their collective deterrence and defence capabilities.

By Tamilla Hasanova