Lt Gen Asim Munir to be new Pakistan Army Chief

New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has picked Lieutenant General Asim Munir to succeed outgoing army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Bajwa, 61, is scheduled to retire on November 29 after a three-year extension. He has ruled out seeking another extension.

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb made the announcement on Twitter, saying the premier had made the choice while exercising his constitutional powers. 

She further said that Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza had been picked as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC).

The new Pakistan Army Chief Lt Gen Asim Munir was promoted to the rank of a two-star general in September 2018, but he took charge two months later. 

His four-year tenure as Lt Gen ends on November 27.

Lt Gen Munir entered the service via the Officers Training School programme in Mangla, and was commissioned into the Frontier Force Regiment.

He has been a close aide of Gen Bajwa ever since he commanded troops in the Force Command Northern Areas as a brigadier under the outgoing army chief, who was then Commander X Corps.

Lt Gen Munir was later appointed Military Intelligence director general in early 2017, and in October next year was made the Inter-Services Intelligence chief.

However, his stint as the top intelligence officer turned out to be the shortest ever, as he was replaced by Lt Gen Faiz Hamid within eight months, on the insistence of then-PM Imran Khan.

He was posted as Gujranwala Corps commander, a position he held for two years, before being moved to the General Headquarters as the quartermaster general.

Related stories: 

Appointment of New Pakistan Army Chief begins in Pakistan

Who will be the next Pakistan army Chief?