Islamabad, November 6,2026: Foreign Office Spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said on Friday that retired Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood, appointed as the first secretary general of the Makkah Defence Alliance, is expected to assume his responsibilities in Riyadh soon.
Mahmood was appointed to the position on September 23 under the trilateral defence arrangement involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.
Speaking at the Foreign Office’s weekly press briefing, Khan said the three member countries would jointly decide when to convene a meeting of the alliance.
The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed on August 7, provides for the three countries to consider an armed attack against any one member as an attack against all.
The alliance has attracted particular attention amid renewed security tensions involving Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, including reported attacks on Saudi territory and disruption to regional security.
The development comes amid heightened security concerns as Saudi Arabia faces attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, including a deadly strike that reportedly forced the closure of Riyadh International Airport for two weeks last month.
Pakistan has reiterated its commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia’s security. In mid-October, military spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan was providing whatever support was required to defend the Kingdom against Houthi attacks.
However, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) clarified that the Makkah Defence Alliance had no offensive objectives and was purely defensive in nature.
He said the alliance’s collective deterrence mechanism had already been activated and stressed that Pakistan would take all necessary measures to safeguard Saudi Arabia’s security, territorial integrity and the Haramain Sharifain (the Two Holy Mosques).
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have two defence arrangements aimed at collective deterrence: their bilateral Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement and the trilateral Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, which also includes Türkiye.
The Turkish parliament approved legislation ratifying the Makkah pact on Thursday, paving the way for the trilateral security agreement to come into force.
The Foreign Office said late last month that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had already completed their respective ratification processes, while noting that each country followed its own constitutional and legal procedures for approving international agreements.
Pakistan continues diplomatic efforts for Middle East peace
Turning to the wider Middle East crisis, Foreign Office Spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said Pakistan would continue its efforts to facilitate dialogue between Iran and the United States.
He said Islamabad had brought the two sides together despite their having remained out of direct contact for decades and was supporting efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy.
Khan cited the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed between the two sides on June 18, as evidence of Pakistan’s diplomatic engagement.
He added that Pakistan, Qatar and other countries were actively contributing to mediation efforts aimed at resolving the conflict.
Emphasising that regional peace could only be achieved through political dialogue and diplomacy rather than military confrontation, the spokesperson acknowledged that negotiations could take time but maintained that outstanding issues could be resolved through diplomatic engagement.
FO accuses Israel of undermining regional peace
Commenting on the broader regional situation, Khan accused Israel of playing the role of a spoiler in the ongoing US-Iran conflict.
Criticising what he described as Israel’s expansionist policies, the spokesperson said peace in the region was not in Israel’s interest and that its expansionist ambitions were among the major factors contributing to the current crisis.
He said these ambitions were not confined to Iran but also affected Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and other countries across the region.
Responding to a question about the recent US midterm elections, the Foreign Office spokesperson said elections were an internal matter of the United States.
He reiterated that Pakistan maintained close relations with Washington.
The comments came after Democrats secured control of both the US Senate and House of Representatives earlier this week, a development expected to have significant implications for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s administration.
