Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. (ANI)

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Monday the extension in tenure of the incumbent Pakistan army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa for another three years, ending speculation about the appointment of a new man to the country’s most powerful office.

Gen Bajwa was scheduled to retire in November this year. He will now stay on to command the army for another full term.

“General Qamar Javed Bajwa is appointed Chief of Army Staff for another term of three years from the date of completion of current tenure,” read a notification issued by the prime minister’s office. “The decision has been taken in view of the regional security environment,” the brief statement added.

The current government has become the second civilian government to forgo its right to choose a chief of army staff. In 2010, former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani had given an extension of three years to Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

Despite being fourth in the seniority of top military generals, Gen Bajwa was appointed army chief by ex-PM Nawaz Sharif on November 26, 2016 after the retirement of Gen Raheel Sharif.

Speaking about the extension of Bajwa’s tenure, Pakistran foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the decision was made by PM Khan taking in view the situation in Kashmir, the security situation in the region and Pakistan’s efforts for the peace process in Afghanistan.

When a reporter asked if any improvement was expected in Kashmir and Afghanistan following this decision, Qureshi said a clear message was being conveyed to India that there was “continuation and clarity” in the political and military leaderships in Pakistan.

Before becoming PM, Imran Khan was a staunch opponent of giving extensions to generals and judges after their retirement. In one of his TV interviews a few years ago, Khan had said that all institutions should be run according to their laws. “When you change the laws for an individual, it weakens the entire institution,” he had said, adding that generals were not given extensions even during the world wars.

In a tweet in January 2016, he had praised the former army chief for “refusing” to seek an extension. Khan had said that “the nation’s respect for Gen Raheel Sharif has gone up after his statement refusing to seek an extension”.

It, however, became evident in June this year that Khan would retract from his previous claims after he had included Bajwa as a member of a newly created body in the civilian domain for Pakistan’s economic revival — the National Development Council.

Before Bajwa’s elevation to army chief, he had worked in several important positions. He had commanded 16 Baloch Regiment, an infantry brigade and infantry division in the Northern Areas (Commander FCNA). Gen Bajwa has also headed the Pakistan contingent of UN troops in Congo. He had also commanded the all-important Rawalpindi-based 10 Corps, and his last position before becoming army chief was inspector-general, training and evaluation, at the army’s general headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

