ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and discussed “security and regional stability situation” with him on Friday.

Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar accompanied the army chief during his third visit to PM House since the assumption of office by Imran Khan on Aug 18.

A statement issued by the PM office said “security and regional stability situation” were discussed in the meeting.

Six major generals get promotion

Informed sources said threats emanating from New Delhi and the state of preparedness of the armed forces to respond to any misadventure also came under discussion. This was the first meeting between the PM and the COAS after India backtracked on its commitment for foreign ministers’ talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York.

Gen Bajwa had first visited the PM on Aug 27 when the civil and military leadership expressed their resolve to bring about enduring peace in the country and continue to make efforts towards regional peace.

Three days later, PM Khan visited the army’s general headquarters for a briefing on matters pertaining to national security. The Aug 30 briefing, which reportedly went on for more than seven hours, covered security environment, threat spectrum and response, counterterrorism operations, the situation in Karachi and the Khushhal Balochistan programme.

Four days later, the army chief again called on PM Khan. This meeting was held on Sept 3, two days before the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Joseph Dunford to Islamabad on Sept 5.

On Sept 6, the prime minister in a departure of practice of recent years was invited to the Defence Day ceremony at the GHQ. At this annual ceremony, the army chief has always been the main speaker. In his speech at the programme, PM Khan had rejected the perception of civil-military imbalance in the country as a myth and said both sides were united to make the country great again.“A myth of civil-military imbalance has been created. It looks as if some huge confrontation is going on. (But) there is no such thing. All of us have a common goal of making the country rise,” PM Khan said, while praising the armed forces as the “only functional institution” in the country.

Six days later PM Khan along with his cabinet members visited the ISI headquarters in Islamabad where he was received by the COAS and ISI DG Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar. In this meeting, which was held on Sept 12, the premier was given a detailed briefing on “various strategic, intelligence and national security matters”.

According to a statement by Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, the army chief and the ISI head had given an eight-hour-long briefing to the prime minister and the cabinet members who accompanied him.

The Friday visit of the army chief to PM House came two weeks after he had welcomed the prime minister at the ISI headquarters.

Six major generals promoted

Meanwhile, six major generals were promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, those promoted as three-star generals are Maj Gen Shaheen Mazhar, Maj Gen Mohammad Adnan, Maj Gen Asim Munir, Maj Gen Abdul Aziz, Maj Gen Nadeem Zaki and Maj Gen Waseem Ashraf.

Maj Gen Mazhar and Maj Gen Adnan are currently serving as vice chiefs of general staff. Maj Gen Munir is currently serving as Military Intelligence (MI) director general, while Maj Gen Aziz is posted at the ISI directorate general. Maj Gen Zaki is presently serving at GHQ and Maj Gen Ashraf is serving as Inspector General Frontier Corps (FC), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2018