Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, who has been replaced as ISI chief, will remain in the forefront of Pakistani initiatives in Afghanistan as also in the peace talks with the Tehrik e Taliban, Pakistan. He will also get a year plus to serve in a corps command, remaining in the race for selection as the next army chief when General Bajwa retires in November 2022, explains Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing.
In a surprise military shake-up, the Pakistan Army on Wednesday announced that the powerful spy agency ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed has been appointed as Peshawar Corps Commander -- a crucial position in view of the Taliban's takeover of neighbouring Afghanistan.
Another extension for General Bajwa in office at this juncture looks unlikely at this juncture, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Though Bajwa met Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Saudi Arabia's military chief of staff General Fayyad bin Hamid Al-Ruwaili, he failed to meet the crown prince.
It could be part of a deliberate strategy to heal divisions within and restore the Pakistan army's image, explains Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, on Monday, became the first-ever woman chief minister of a province in Pakistan when she was elected to head the Punjab province, describing it as an 'honour' for every woman in the country.
Khan had been at loggerheads with Bajwa ever since his ouster from power in April by a no-confidence motion.
Senior general refuses to retire, reveals Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Ananlysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Aware of simmering dissensions within the top echelons of the army, Munir has moved slowly in reshuffling senior generals, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W, India's external intelligence agency.
Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid will take to his new command as duck to water, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The timing of these transfers, while being projected as routine, is significant in both strategic and political terms, asserts Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Lt Gen Abbas -- commissioned in 1987 by Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in the 41 Baloch Regiment -- has formerly served as the personal secretary to the chief of former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif.
'A six month extension, if not extended further, would make General Bajwa a lame duck chief, altering the balance of his equations with the senior peer group of lieutenant generals,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The ISI was taking no chances and wanted no repeat of Pulwama; it wanted to make it clear at a political level it was not involved with the revenge attack being planned, but was only giving India a friendly tip-off. A stunning excerpt from Ambassador Ajay Bisaria's Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan.
Cricketer-turned politician Sidhu had courted controversy by hugging Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa during his visit to Pakistan for the swearing-in of Imran Khan as prime minister.
The last word may not have been said on the churnings within the Pakistan army or the extent to which army chief General Asim Munir is in control, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RAW, India's external intelligence agency.
'Nobody wants him to gain power.' 'But saying that all these players together conspired against Imran Khan and had him arrested would be in the realm of conjecture but possibilities cannot be ruled out.'
He also said that Pakistan would not do anything as what Prime Minister Modi was doing "would create a backlash that would bring his downfall."
If General Asim Munir, Pakistan's new army chief, wants to help defuse the current polarised atmosphere and shepherd civilian politicians towards negotiations on an acceptable date for elections, he may need to distance himself from any perception of needless hostility to Imran Khan, explains Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W, India's external intelligence agency.
No prime minister in Pakistan's recent history has survived long in office after appointing an ISI chief who did not have the army chief's confidence. Imran may be no exception, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing.
'With the extension issue settled clearly in his favour, Gen Bajwa would be free to fashion a more hardline policy against India. 'We could, therefore, expect a raising of the ante in Kashmir,' says Rana Banerji.
'Indian media taking a myopic view is selectively showing Mr Gopal Singh meeting COAS. Army Chief met all guests at the venue irrespective of identity. A peace initiative should not be subjected to propaganda'
Chief Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad high court delivered a reserved verdict during which he also fined the petitioner Maulvi Iqbal Haider Rs100,000, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.
If Imran Khan delays his assent to General Bajwa's recommendations any further, it could imply he is taking stock of possible serious dissent within Pakistan's top army echelons, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
General Bajwa and the outgoing DG, ISI Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar, had a long meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
'The decision has been taken in view of the regional security environment.'
Keeping trusted men in key positions at Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar has become vital for Bajwa, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
With its new army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa set to take charge, Pakistan has asserted that focus will remain on country's eastern border with India, even as the US nudged Islamabad to keep the pledge of not allowing use of its soil for terror attacks against neighbours.
Rejecting Biden's comments, Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal at a press conference here said that Pakistan was following the global standards.
Usually, the army chief sends three names for the coveted slot and the prime minister has the authority to pick any one of them, the report added.
"There was neither any talk of dismissing the army chief nor was this on the cards," Khan told journalists after chairing an emergency Cabinet meeting.
General Bajwa, unlike many of his predecessors, believes the Pakistan army's long-term interests lie in reducing tensions with India, reports Ajai Shukla.
With the National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejecting the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that the conspiracy hatched by a foreign country to topple the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in the country has failed.
The US and others have long complained that Pakistan provides safe haven to the Afghan Taliban and their allies, the Haqqani network.
Several retired and serving military officers attend Pervez Musharraf's funeral prayers.
'The last thing he would want is new tensions with India.'
Munir was among those in Pakistan who oversaw the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, according to Tilak Devasher, a member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) and who retired as Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat.
'As one might expect, he believed the Indians were preparing their nuclear weapons for deployment. It took us a few hours - and remarkably good work by our teams on the ground in New Delhi and Islamabad - to convince each side that the other was not preparing for nuclear war'
The Pakistan army is staring at the greatest, scariest, existential threat to its power in their country. This threat has come from a populist riding democratic power, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Sidhu urged Swaraj to help initiate dialogue with Pakistan on the opening up of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.
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