A Baloch Regiment officer, Qamar Javed Bajwa will take over from Gen Raheel Sharif who retires on Nov 29 after serving just one three-year term
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday promoted Lt General Qamar Javed Bajwa as the four-star general and named him the successor to the outgoing Army Chief General Raheel Sharif. General Sharif, 60, becomes the first Pakistani army chief in more than 20 years to step down after just one term. Several previous military leaders had obtained extensions to their three-year terms, the last one being General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who served from November 29, 2007 to November 29, 2013.
“On the advice of Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, President Mamnoon Hussain has approved the promotion of Lieutenant General Zubair Mehmood Hayat and Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa,” the PM’s office said.
This is the fifth army chief that Sharif has chosen in his three terms as Prime Minister.
General Bajwa, considered to be a low-key officer, will take charge on November 29 when General Raheel Sharif retires. The appointment of Bajwa is expected to help reset fraught relations between the military and the civilian government in a nuclear-armed nation of 190 million people.
The army chief is arguably the most influential person in Pakistan, with the military having ruled the country for about half of its 69-year history.
Though security across Pakistan has vastly improved under General Sharif, with number of reported terrorist attacks down, General Bajwa will face vast challenges at home and abroad.
Islamic State is trying to make inroads into the country and militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban continue to stage large-scale bomb and gun attacks. Since August, 184 people have been killed in three major attacks in the restive Balochistan region alone.
There are fears that if violence in Balochistan escalates it could disrupt work on the road, rail and energy projects central to the $54 billion China-funded economic corridor which aims to link Western China to the Arabian Sea at Pakistan’s deepwater port of Gwadar in Baluchistan.
Pakistan’s relations with the United States, a long-time ally, as well as nuclear-armed rival India, have worsened over the past year.
Both countries accuse Pakistan of harbouring Islamist militant groups, with Afghanistan incensed by the presence of Afghan Taliban leaders inside Pakistan. Islamabad denies all such charges.
Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa was commissioned in 16 Baloch Regiment on October 24, 1980.
He is a graduate of Canadian Forces Command and Staff College, Toronto. He also attended Naval Post Graduate University in Monterey, California, USA, and National Defence University in Islamabad. He was an instructor at School of Infantry and Tactics at Quetta Command and Staff College and at National Defence University. He was also Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade and Chief of Staff of Rawalpindi Corps. He commanded 16 Baloch Regiment, an Infantry Brigade and has commanded Infantry Division in Northern Areas. He has also commanded a Pakistan Contingent in Congo.
General Bajwa takes command of the Pakistan army at a time when tensions with Pakistan’s arch-rival India are at a peak.
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