Munir is the first army chief to have served as the head of the two most powerful intelligence agencies, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI). Although he remained the ISI chief for the shortest time till now.
General Asim Munir, former chief of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI, took charge as the country’s new army chief on Tuesday. Munir will replace General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Bajwa was appointed army chief in 2016 for three years. In the year 2019, he was given a three-year extension. Munir took charge in a ceremony held at the ‘General Headquarters’ and with this he became the 17th Chief of the ‘Army Staff’.
The country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif nominated Munir as the army chief on 24 November. There have been coups several times in the past in Pakistan, where the army has a lot of power in matters of security and foreign policy. Munir is the first army chief to have served as the head of the two most powerful intelligence agencies, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI). Although he remained the ISI chief for the shortest time till now.
Army rule in Pakistan for a long time
Within eight months, in 2019, at the behest of the then Prime Minister Imran Khan, Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid was appointed ISI chief in his place. Pakistan has been in existence for more than 75 years and the country has been under military rule for more than half of that time. In such a situation, the army has been interfering a lot in the security and foreign policy matters of the country.
Munir joined the army through the ‘Frontier Force Regiment’. When General Bajwa was the commander of X Corps, Munir was a brigadier in the Force Command Northern Area under him. Since then Munir has been close to Bajwa. Munir was later appointed as the head of ‘Military Intelligence’ in early 2017 and was made the ISI chief in October the following year, but he was removed from the post shortly after.
Many responsibilities on the shoulders of the new army chief
After this he was posted as Gujranwala Corps Commander and he remained in this post for two years. Later he was transferred as Quartermaster General. He is the first army chief to have been awarded the ‘Sword of Honour’. The new army chief will have to deal with a host of problems, including the threat of terrorists, but his key test will be whether he can stick to former army chief General Bajwa’s decision to keep the army out of politics.
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(with agency inputs)
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