Defence Secretary of Pakistan is the highest bureaucratic position within the Ministry of Defence of Pakistan. Following is the list of the defence secretaries to date.
The current Defence Secretary is Lt Gen (R) Syed Athar Ali, the former commander V Corps, Karachi and DG Joint Staff. He took over in November 2008 vice Kamran Rasool.
| Name of Defence Secretary | Entered Office | Left Office |
|---|---|---|
| Maj Gen Iskander Mirza | October 1947 | May 1954 |
| Akhter Husain | June 1954 | August 1957 |
| Muhammad Khurshid | March 1958 | June 1959 |
| S Fida Hussain | July 1958 | August 1961 |
| Nazir Ahmed | August 1961 | September 1965 |
| S Fida Hussain | September 1965 | June 1966 |
| S I Haque | June 1966 | December 1966 |
| S. Ghias Uddin Ahmed | December 1966 | August 1973 |
| Maj Gen (R) Fazal Muqeem Khan | August 1973 | October 1977 |
| Ghulam Ishaq Khan (Secretary General) | October 1975 | July 1977 |
| Lt Gen Ghulam Jilani Khan | October 1977 | April 1980 |
| Maj Gen (R) M Rahim Khan | November 1980 | December 1985 |
| Asif Rahim | June 1981 | June 1984 |
| Aftab Ahmad Khan | February 1984 | August 1985 |
| Ijlal Haider Zaidi | August 1985 | November 1989 |
| Salim Abbas Jilani | November 1989 | November 1996 |
| Hasan Raza Pasha | November 1996 | May 1997 |
| Lt Gen (R) Iftikhar Ali Khan | May 1997 | October 1999 |
| Lt Gen (R) Naseem Rana | October 1999 | March 2001 |
| Lt Gen (R) Hamid Nawaz Khan | March 2001 | May 2005 |
| Lt Gen (R) Tariq Waseem Ghazi | May 2005 | April 2007 |
| Kamran Rasool | April 2007 | November 2008 |
| Lt Gen (R) Syed Athar Ali | November 2008 | November 2011 |
| Lt Gen (R) Naeem Khalid Lodhi | November 2011 |