Naeem Khalid Lodhi

Lodhi earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He later attended the Command and Staff College in Quetta and the National Defence University in Islamabad. He also holds a master's degree in International Relations.^[2]

He was commissioned in the Army on 27 October 1974 in the Corps of Engineers.^[3]

He has served on various command, staff, and instructional assignments in his career in the Army including the important appointments of Directing Staff at the National Defence University, Pakistan, Commander Corps Engineers, Director General Engineering Directorate, Director General Staff Duties Directorate, General Officer Commanding Bahawalpur, General Headquarters Rawalpindi and Corps Commander Bahawalpur. On account of his distinguished military service, he has been conferred the award of Hilal-i-Imtiaz (M).^[2]

He retired from the army in March 2011.^[2]

Following his retirement from military service, Lodhi was appointed as the Defence Secretary of Pakistan on 28 November 2011.^[4] However, he was dismissed on 11 January 2012 by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani amid the political tensions related to the "Memogate" affair, a case that strained civil-military relations at the time.^[5][6] He was replaced by Nargis Sethi on 12 January 2012.

In April 2012, Lodhi was appointed Managing Director and CEO of Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC), one of Pakistan’s largest fertiliser manufacturers.^[7] During his tenure, he also held directorships at FFC Energy Limited, Fauji Meat Limited, and other subsidiaries.^[8] In more recent years he was working in an engineering firm, H-Cube Pvt Ltd., as a consultant and adviser.^[9]

In the caretaker federal cabinet formed ahead of Pakistan’s 2018 general elections, Lodhi served as the Minister for National Security and Defence Production. His term began on 27 June 2018 and ended in August 2018.^[10]