General Bajwa Replaces Raheel Sharif as Pakistan’s Chief of Army

Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa considers terrorism a bigger threat than India, a report in Dawn stated.

Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@nadeemshakirUK)

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed General Qamar Javed Bajwa as the new Chief of the Pakistani army, on Saturday.

Bajwa will be replacing General Raheel Sharif who was credited for taking action against militancy in Karachi and had garnered unprecedented popularity on social media.

What We Know About General Bajwa

• Ninth in the seniority list, Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa was serving as the Inspector General Training and Development GHQ before being appointed as the Chief.
• Bawja belongs to the Baloch regiment and has extensive experience with the Kashmir conflict and other issues in the northern area.
• He has held the position of COS [chief of staff] at 10 Corps as a brigadier and also commanded formation division in Northern Areas as formation commander (FCNA).
• “Despite his extensive involvement with Kashmir and northern areas, he is said to consider extremism a bigger threat for the country than India”, Pakistani daily Dawn reported.
• A report in Dawn also described Bajwa as a “dark horse” in the race for the post of the army chief who needed to be closely watched.
• According to his colleagues, he is extremely professional but compassionate, and remains well-connected to his troops.