| Honorific-Prefix: | Major General |
| Robert Cawthome | |
| Order1: | 2nd |
| Office1: | Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence |
| Term Start1: | 1950 |
| Term End1: | 1959 |
| Predecessor1: | Syed Shahid Hamid |
| Successor1: | Riaz Hussain |
| Nationality: | Pakistani |
| Birth Place: | Australia |
| Death Place: | England |
| Birth Name: | Robert Cawthome |
| Allegiance: | |
| Branch: | |
| Commands: | Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence Chief of Staff |
| Battles: | World War II Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 |
| Serviceyears: | 1947-1950 |
Robert Cawthome (Urdu: {{Nastaliq|رابرٹ کوتھوم) was the co-founder of Pakistans' Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) and founder of the Pakistan Army Corps of Signals. He served as two star Major-General in the Pakistan Army and set up the ISI to become its second Director General.[1] [2]
Robert Bill Cawthome was born in Australia and was a major general in the British Indian Army in the British India. After independence of Pakistan and India, he moved to Pakistan and joined the newly formed Pakistan army. He formed Pakistan Army Corps of Signals and served as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the army. Cawthome founded the Inter-Services Intelligence in 1948 along with Syed Shahid Hamid and some others after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, which exposed weaknesses in intelligence gathering between the Pakistan Army, Air Force, Navy, Intelligence Bureau and Military Intelligence.[3] The policies of the agency were his brain-child. He was promoted to two star Major-General in the army. In 1950 he became Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence succeeding Syed Shahid Hamid.[4] [5] [6] He was succeeded by Riaz Hussain in 1959. After his retirement, Cawthome moved back to the United Kingdom and lived there till his death.