| Post: | Minister of Defense |
| Incumbent: | Khawaja Asif |
| Insignia: | State emblem of Pakistan.svg |
| Nominator: | Prime minister of Pakistan |
| Appointer: | President of Pakistan |
| Incumbentsince: | 11 March 2024 |
| Seat: | Calcutta House, Murree RoadRawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. 46000 |
| Reports To: | |
| Member Of: | Cabinet |
| Department: | Ministry of Defense |
| First: | Liaquat Ali Khan |
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.
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.
| Portrait | Name | Tenure | Party | Government | Head of Government | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Length | |||||||
| Federal Minister of Defence | |||||||||
| Liaquat Ali Khan (Prime Minister) | 15 August 1947 | 16 October 1951 | Muslim League | Liaquat | Self | ||||
| Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin (Prime Minister) | 24 October 1951 | 17 April 1953 | Nazimuddin | Self | |||||
| Mohammad Ali Bogra (Prime Minister) | 18 April 1953 | 24 October 1954 | Bogra | Mohammad Ali Bogra | |||||
Muhammad Ayub Khan | 24 October 1954 | 11 August 1955 | |||||||
| Chaudhry Muhammad Ali (Prime Minister) | 12 August 1955 | 12 September 1956 | Muhammad Ali | Self | |||||
| Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (Prime Minister) | 13 September 1956 | 18 October 1957 | Awami League | Suhrawardy | Self | ||||
| Mumtaz Daultana | 19 October 1957 | 18 December 1957 | Muslim League | Chundrigar | I. I. Chundrigar | ||||
| Federal Minister | 19 December 1957 | 8 April 1958 | Republican Party | Noon | Sir Feroz Khan Noon | ||||
| Sir Feroz Khan Noon (Prime Minister) | |||||||||
| Minister of State | |||||||||
| Akbar Bugti | |||||||||
| Federal Minister of Defence | |||||||||
| Muhammad Ayub Khuhro | 9 April 1958 | 7 October 1958 | Muslim League | Noon | Sir Feroz Khan Noon | ||||
Muhammad Ayub Khan (President) | 28 October 1958 | 21 October 1966 | Ayub | Muhammad Ayub Khan | |||||
| Convention Muslim League | |||||||||
Afzal Rahman Khan | 12 October 1966 | 5 April 1969 | Military | ||||||
Yahya Khan (Chief Martial Law Administrator) | 25 March 1969 | 20 December 1971 | Military | Yahya | Self | ||||
| Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (President until 14 Aug 1973 Prime Minister from 14 Aug 1973) | 20 December 1971 | 5 July 1977 | Pakistan People's Party | Bhutto | Zulfikar Ali Bhutto | ||||
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (Chief Martial Law Administrator) | 5 July 1977 | 27 Aug 1978 | Military | Haq | Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq | ||||
| Ali Ahmad Talpur | 27 August 1978 | 25 February 1985 | Independent | ||||||
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (President) | 27 February 1985 | 24 March 1985 | Military | ||||||
| Muhammad Junejo (Prime Minister) | 25 March 1985 | 29 May 1988 | Independent | ||||||
| Mahmoud Haroon | 9 June 1988 | 17 August 1988 | |||||||
| 17 August 1988 | 2 December 1988 | Ishaq Khan | Ghulam Ishaq Khan | ||||||
| Benazir Bhutto (Prime Minister) | 4 December 1988 | 6 August 1990 | Pakistan People's Party | Bhutto I | Self | ||||
| Nawaz Sharif (Prime Minister) | 6 November 1990 | 10 September 1991 | Muslim League | Nawaz I | Nawaz Sharif | ||||
| Ghous Ali Shah | 10 September 1991 | 18 April 1993 | |||||||
| Hazar Khan Bijarani | 18 April 1993 | 26 May 1993 | Independent | Mazari | Balakh Sher Mazari | ||||
| Ghous Ali Shah | 26 May 1993 | 18 July 1993 | Pakistan Muslim League (N) | Nawaz I | Nawaz Sharif | ||||
Rehm Dil Bhatti | 23 July 1993 | 19 October 1993 | Independent | Qureshi | Moeenuddin Ahmad Qureshi | ||||
| Aftab Shaban Mirani | 19 October 1993 | 5 November 1996 | Pakistan People's Party | Bhutto II | Benazir Bhutto | ||||
| Shahid Hamid | 11 November 1996 | 17 February 1997 | Independent | Khalid | Malik Meraj Khalid | ||||
| Nawaz Sharif (Prime Minister) | 17 February 1997 | 12 October 1999 | Pakistan Muslim League (N) | Nawaz II | Self | ||||
Pervez Musharraf (Chief Executive) | 12 October 1999 | 23 November 2002 | Military | Musharraf | Self | ||||
| Rao Sikandar Iqbal (Senior Minister) | 23 November 2002 | 15 November 2007 | Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians | Jamali | Zafarullah Khan Jamali | ||||
| Hussain | Shujaat Hussain | ||||||||
| Aziz | Shaukat Aziz | ||||||||
| Salim Abbas Jilani | 15 November 2007 | 24 March 2008 | Independent | Soomro | Muhammad Mian Soomro | ||||
| Ahmad Mukhtar | 31 March 2008 | 3 June 2012 | Pakistan People's Party | Gillani | Yousaf Raza Gillani | ||||
| Naveed Qamar | 4 June 2012 | 16 March 2013 | Ashraf | Raja Pervaiz Ashraf | |||||
| Mir Hazar Khan Khoso (Prime Minister) | 4 April 2013 | 4 June 2013 | Independent | Khoso | Self | ||||
| Nawaz Sharif (Prime Minister) | 7 June 2013 | 26 November 2013 | Pakistan Muslim League (N) | Nawaz III | Nawaz Sharif | ||||
| Khawaja Asif | 27 November 2013 | 28 July 2017 | |||||||
| Khurram Dastgir | 4 August 2017 | 31 May 2018 | Abbasi | Shahid Khaqan Abbasi | |||||
| Abdullah Hussain Haroon | 5 June 2018 | 18 August 2018 | Independent | Mulk | Nasirul Mulk | ||||
| Pervez Khattak | 20 August 2018 | 10 April 2022 | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf | Imran | Imran Khan | ||||
| Khawaja Asif | 19 April 2022 | 10 August 2023 | Pakistan Muslim League (N) | Shehbaz I | Shehbaz Sharif | ||||
Anwar Ali Hyder | 17 August 2023 | 4 March 2024 | Independent | Kakar | Anwaar ul Haq Kakar | ||||
| Khawaja Asif | 11 March 2024 | Incumbent | Pakistan Muslim League (N) | Shehbaz II | Shehbaz Sharif | ||||