Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is all set to appoint new chairman joint chiefs of staff committee and army chief soon as the defence secretary has sent a summary in this regard.

Sources told Daily Times that Nawaz on Monday signed a file to initiate the process for the new appointments. The new top general would be appointed with the consultation of General Raheel Sharif.

On the other hand, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has started his farewell visits. In the first phase, he had visited Lahore Garrison and met army and rangers soldiers.

Addressing the soldiers, the top general said that he was lucky to command one of the best armies in the world.

It was not an easy task for him to restore the law and order in the country but did hard work and accepted the challenges with bravery and now the country is safe and secure.

“We faced the challenge of terrorism. We gave sacrifices in the war against terrorism but at the end we defeated the terrorists,” he said.

On the second leg of his farewell visits, the COAS arrived Gujranwala and addressed officers and troops of Mangla and Gujranwala Corps.

In his farewell address, the top general paid rich tributes to the professionalism, dedication and sacrifices of troops while defending motherland at Line of Control and Working Boundary.

He also praised the Mangla Corps for successfully undertaking the task of capacity building and imparting anti terrorists training to troops of 3 services and law enforcement agencies.

Lt Gen Umer Farooq Durrani, Commander 1 Corps and Lt Gen Ikramul Haque, Commander 30 Corps received COAS at the venue.

Sources said General Raheel was satisfied on the achievements under his command. The government had appointed General Raheel as the army chief in November 2013 after the retirement of General Ashfaq Kiyani. General Kiyani was given extension of three years by the former government. The PML-N government also offered extension offered to General Raheel, but he refused.

Defence analysts were of the view that the top general is the only non-controversial army chief. During his tenure, several situations arose when he would have taken the reins in his hands but he stood with the democracy.

Sources said the new army chief would be appointed on seniority basis. It is, however, the PM’s prerogative.

COAS General Raheel Sharif will retire on November 29 and the new COAS, whenever the name is finalised, will take charge on the same day.

Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Zubair Mehmood Hayat is the senior most at the moment. He may be appointed as the new chairman joint chief of staff committee if decision taken on seniority. Lieutenant General Najibullah follows Zubair, but Najib has not commanded the corps. Multan Corps Commander Lieutenant General Ishfaq Nadeem, Bahawalpur Corps Commander Lieutenant General Mustafa Javed Ramday and Training and Evaluation Inspector General Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa are strong candidates for the army chief’s office.

Separately, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the prime minister would choose the new army chief after consultations.

In an interview, the minister said General Raheel Sharif would send a list of senior- most general to Nawaz.

Talking to a private TV channel, the minister said Nawaz would choose Pakistan’s next army chief after consulting General Raheel, ‘colleagues’ and cabinet members.

“General Raheel Sharif had several successes during his tenure. No other army in the world has achieved such success against terrorism. I think that General Raheel Sharif is leaving a legacy which he and the armed forces can be proud of,” Asif said.