Islamabad, Sep 23 A former Pakistan Army general has been appointed as the first secretary-general of the trilateral Makkah alliance involving Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Office (FO) announced on Wednesday.
The trilateral defence agreement, inked last month, establishes a framework for collective deterrence and stipulates that an armed attack against any one of them would be regarded as an attack against all.
“The government of Pakistan is pleased to announce the appointment of Lt Gen Nauman Mahmood, Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military), (retired), as the first secretary general pursuant to the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement,” the FO said.
It said that the secretary general will lead the general secretariat of the alliance being established in Riyadh.
Mahmood, who belonged to the Baloch Regiment, previously commanded a key Pakistan Army corps in the country’s restive northwest and served as president of the National Defence University, according to the military.
His appointment comes amid an ongoing escalation involving Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis, who carried out attacks on Saudi territory in recent days and established control over the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed the agreement on August 7.
Its inaugural meeting was held on August 31 in Istanbul, where officials from all member states met to establish the institutional structure of the alliance. It was decided that the secretary-general would be from Pakistan.
(PTI News)
