General Asim Munir takes charge as new chief of Pakistan Army

Islamabad: General Asim Munir, former chief of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI, took charge as the country’s new army chief on Tuesday. Asim Munir will replace General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Bajwa was appointed Pakistan Army chief in 2016 for a tenure of three years. In the year 2019, he was given a three-year extension.

General Asim Munir took charge at a ceremony held at the General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army in Rawalpindi and became the 17th Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

A change of command ceremony was organized at the Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi on Tuesday during which General Bajwa handed over the reins of the Pakistan Army to his successor General Asim Munir.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had nominated Asim Munir as the Pakistan Army chief on November 24.

Pakistan has seen coups several times in the past, where the military wields considerable power in matters of security and foreign policy.

Asim Munir has headed ISI, MI

General Asim Munir is the first Pakistan Army chief to have served as the head of the country’s two most powerful intelligence agencies, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI).

However, he remained the ISI chief for the shortest tenure to date. In 2019, within 8 months of taking charge as the ISI chief, Asim Munir was removed from the post at the behest of then Prime Minister Imran Khan. Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid – a favourite of Imran Khan – was appointed as ISI chief in his place.

Pakistan Army interference in security, foreign policies

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. The Pakistan Army has been interfering a lot in the security and foreign policy matters of the country.

General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who retired from the post of Pakistan Army chief, held a farewell meeting with President Dr. Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday.

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