Minister of Defence (Pakistan)

The Minister of Defence (Urdu: 'وزیرِ دفاع') heads the Ministry of Defence. The minister serves in the cabinet of the Prime Minister and is required to be a member of Parliament.

Minister of Defence
Incumbent
Khawaja Asif
since 11 March 2024
Ministry of Defence
Member ofCabinet
Reports to
SeatCalcutta House, Murree Road Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. 46000
NominatorPrime minister of Pakistan
AppointerPresident of Pakistan
First holderLiaquat Ali Khan
Websitemod.gov.pk

In the history of the country, the defence portfolio has usually been headed by the head of the government, be that the President or Prime Minister of the country. The first defence minister was Liaquat Ali Khan.

List of ministers

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Legend
  •   Caretaker minister
  • Died in office
Portrait Name
(Born–Died)
Tenure Party Government Head of Government
From To Length
Federal Minister of Defence
  Liaquat Ali Khan
(1947–1951)
MCA for East Bengal

(Prime Minister)
15 August
1947
16 October
1951[†]
4 years, 62 days Muslim League Liaquat Self
  Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin
(1894–1964)
MCA for East Bengal

(Prime Minister)
24 October
1951
17 April
1953
1 year, 175 days Nazimuddin Self
  Mohammad Ali Bogra
(1909–1963)
MCA for East Bengal

(Prime Minister)
18 April
1953
24 October
1954
1 year, 189 days Bogra Mohammad Ali Bogra
  General
Muhammad Ayub Khan
(1907–1974)
Commander-in-Chief of the Army
24 October
1954
11 August
1955
291 days
  Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
(1905–1982)
MNA for Punjab

(Prime Minister)
12 August
1955
12 September
1956
1 year, 31 days Muhammad Ali Self
  Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
(1892–1963)
MNA for East Bengal

(Prime Minister)
13 September
1956
18 October
1957
1 year, 35 days Awami League Suhrawardy Self
  Mumtaz Daultana
(1916–1965)
MNA for Punjab
19 October
1957
18 December
1957
60 days Muslim League Chundrigar I. I. Chundrigar
Federal Minister 19 December
1957
8 April
1958
110 days Republican Party Noon Sir Feroz Khan Noon
  Sir Feroz Khan Noon
(1893–1970)
MCA for Punjab

(Prime Minister)
Minister of State
  Akbar Bugti
(1926–2006)
Federal Minister of Defence
  Muhammad Ayub Khuhro
(1901–1980)
MNA for Sindh
9 April
1958
7 October
1958
181 days Muslim League Noon Sir Feroz Khan Noon
  Field Marshal
Muhammad Ayub Khan
(1907–1974)
(President)
28 October
1958
21 October
1966
7 years, 358 days Ayub Muhammad Ayub Khan
(President)
Convention Muslim League
  Vice Admiral
Afzal Rahman Khan
(1921–1983)
12 October
1966
5 April
1969
2 years, 175 days Military
(Non-partisan)
  General
Yahya Khan
(1917–1980)
(Chief Martial Law Administrator)
25 March
1969
20 December
1971
2 years, 270 days Military
(Non-partisan)
Yahya Self
(President)
  Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
(1928–1979)
MNA for 116 Larkana-I

(President until 14 Aug 1973
Prime Minister from 14 Aug 1973)
20 December
1971
5 July
1977
5 years, 197 days Pakistan People's Party Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
  General
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
(1924–1988)
(Chief Martial Law Administrator)
5 July
1977
27 Aug
1978
1 year, 53 days Military
(Non-partisan)
Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
(President)
  Ali Ahmad Talpur
(1915–1987)
27 August
1978
25 February
1985
6 years, 182 days Independent
  General
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
(1924–1988)
(President)
27 February
1985
24 March
1985
25 days Military
(Non-partisan)
  Muhammad Junejo
(1932–1993)
(Prime Minister)
25 March
1985
29 May
1988
3 years, 65 days Independent
  Mahmoud Haroon
(1920–2008)
9 June
1988
17 August
1988
176 days
17 August
1988
2 December
1988
Ishaq Khan Ghulam Ishaq Khan
(Acting President)
  Benazir Bhutto
(1953–2007)
MNA for 166 Larkana-III

(Prime Minister)
4 December
1988
6 August
1990
1 year, 245 days Pakistan People's Party Bhutto I Self
Caretaker ministry served during this interval
  Nawaz Sharif
(born 1949)
MNA for 12 Abbottabad-II

(Prime Minister)
6 November
1990
10 September
1991
308 days Muslim League
(IJI)
Nawaz I Nawaz Sharif
  Ghous Ali Shah
(born 1934)
10 September
1991
18 April
1993
1 year, 220 days
  Hazar Khan Bijarani
(1946–2018)
(Caretaker)
18 April
1993
26 May
1993
38 days Independent
(Caretaker)
Mazari Balakh Sher Mazari
(Caretaker)
  Ghous Ali Shah
(born 1934)
26 May
1993
18 July
1993
53 days Pakistan Muslim League (N)
(IJI)
Nawaz I Nawaz Sharif
  Lieutenant General (Retd)
Rehm Dil Bhatti
(Caretaker)
23 July
1993
19 October
1993
88 days Independent
(Caretaker)
Qureshi Moeenuddin Ahmad Qureshi
(Caretaker)
  Aftab Shaban Mirani
MNA for 154 Shikarpur-I
19 October
1993
5 November
1996
3 years, 17 days Pakistan People's Party Bhutto II Benazir Bhutto
  Shahid Hamid
(Caretaker)
11 November
1996
17 February
1997
98 days Independent
(Caretaker)
Khalid Malik Meraj Khalid
(Caretaker)
  Nawaz Sharif
(born 1949)
MNA for 12 Abbottabad-II

(Prime Minister)
17 February
1997
12 October
1999
2 years, 237 days Pakistan Muslim League (N) Nawaz II Self
  General
Pervez Musharraf
(1943–2023)
(Chief Executive)
12 October
1999
23 November
2002
3 years, 42 days Military
(Non-partisan)
Musharraf Self
(Chief Executive)
  Rao Sikandar Iqbal
(1943–2010)
MNA for 144 Okara-II

(Senior Minister)
23 November
2002
15 November
2007
4 years, 357 days Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians Jamali Zafarullah Khan Jamali
Hussain Shujaat Hussain
Aziz Shaukat Aziz
  Salim Abbas Jilani
(Caretaker)
15 November
2007
24 March
2008
130 days Independent
(Caretaker)
Soomro Muhammad Mian Soomro
(Caretaker)
  Ahmad Mukhtar
(1946–2020)
MNA for 105 Gujrat-II
31 March
2008
3 June
2012
4 years, 64 days Pakistan People's Party Gillani Yousaf Raza Gillani
  Naveed Qamar
(born 1955)
MNA for 222 Hyderabad-V
4 June
2012
16 March
2013
285 days Ashraf Raja Pervaiz Ashraf
Mir Hazar Khan Khoso
(1929–2021)
(Prime Minister)
(Caretaker)
4 April
2013
4 June
2013
61 days Independent
(Caretaker)
Khoso Self
(Caretaker)
  Nawaz Sharif
(born 1949)
MNA for 120 Lahore-III

(Prime Minister)
7 June
2013
26 November
2013
172 days Pakistan Muslim League (N) Nawaz III Nawaz Sharif
  Khawaja Asif
(born 1949)
MNA for 71 Sialkot
27 November
2013
28 July
2017
3 years, 243 days
  Khurram Dastgir
(born 1970)
MNA for 96 Gujranwala-II
4 August
2017
31 May
2018
300 days Abbasi Shahid Khaqan Abbasi
  Abdullah Hussain Haroon
(born 1950)
(Caretaker)
5 June
2018
18 August
2018
74 days Independent
(Caretaker)
Mulk Nasirul Mulk
(Caretaker)
  Pervez Khattak
(born 1950)
MNA for 25 Nowshera-I
20 August
2018
10 April
2022
3 years, 233 days Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Imran Khan
  Khawaja Asif
(born 1949)
MNA for 73 Sialkot-II
19 April
2022
10 August
2023
1 year, 113 days Pakistan Muslim League (N) Shehbaz I Shehbaz Sharif
  Lieutenant General (Retd)
Anwar Ali Hyder
(Caretaker)
17 August
2023
4 March
2024
200 days Independent
(Caretaker)
Kakar Anwaar ul Haq Kakar
(Caretaker)
  Khawaja Asif
(born 1949)
MNA for 71 Sialkot-II
11 March
2024
Incumbent 289 days Pakistan Muslim League (N) Shehbaz II Shehbaz Sharif

See also

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Notes

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References

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