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Does rejig in ISI give clues on who will be next Pakistan army chief

Gen Bajwa is set to complete his tenure as Army chief in November 2022

Pakistan-army-chief-bajwa-Reuters Pakistan's Army Chief of Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, arrives to attend the Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad, Pakistan March 23, 2019 | Reuters

The abrupt reshuffle in the higher ups of the Pakistan military may have surprised some, but observers closely monitoring the development claim that the move is to find the successor of incumbent Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who is completing his tenure in November 2022.

General Bajwa was appointed as Army chief in November 2016 for three years, and got an extension for another three years, from November 2019 till November 2022, by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Lt General Nadeem Anjum was appointed as the new Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in place of Lt General Hameed, who was transferred as Peshawar Corps Commander. The ISI chief moved out amidst growing criticism of the ISI for abducting activists and journalists in Pakistan.

Lt Gen Hameed was in Kabul after Taliban take over in Afghanistan. However, a faction of experts believes that supporting Taliban was blunder on the part of Pakistan military. And tension was created in the region after no country (except few) accepted Taliban regime in Kabul. And it may have led to departure of Lt Gen Hameed from the spy agency.

But now, as Corps Commander, Lt Gen Hameed will have a prominent role in issues involving Afghanistan and the Taliban and it will give him more experience in dealing with Americans and the Chinese, as both countries have massive stakes in war-torn Afghanistan.

And in Pakistan, an officer has to serve at least six months as the Corps Commander to be eligible to become Army chief.

"Rejig in the Pakistan military is focussed to fix the line of succession. Lt Gen Hameed is learnt to be in good books of Prime Minister Imran Khan as well as General Bajwa. It seems, he is on his way to be the next chief of Pakistan Army," an observer said.

Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, belonging to the dominating Punjab Regiment of the Pakistan Army, is presently posted as Corps Commander of Pakistan’s V Corps in Karachi and was promoted to Lt General last year.  While Anjum's colleagues call him the “man with glacier brain but sharp reflexes”, he was involved in several anti-terrorism operations were conducted under his command by Frontier Corps Balochistan. He earned the title of ‘Mohsin e Balochistan’ for his operations in Balochistan. Anjum, a graduate from the Royal College of Defense Studies in the UK, also holds a degree from the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies, Honolulu. He had also served key positions on the Line of Control with India.

Last month, the Pakistan Army announced the appointment of a new Commander of its Rawalpindi-based 10 Corps, which is responsible for the security of Line of Control towards India. While Lieutenant General Sahir Shamshad Mirza has been posted as the Commander of Rawalpindi Corps, Lieutenant General Muhammad Chiragh Haider is given the responsibility of the Commander Multan Corps, which is one of the main strike Corps of the Pakistan Army.

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