Pakistan’s information and broadcasting minister announced that Lieutenant General Asim Munir would succeed General Qamar Javed Bajwa as head of the Pakistan Army.
Tilak Devasher, a former Special Secretary for the Cabinet Secretariat and a member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), claims that Munir was one of the individuals in Pakistan who oversaw the 2019 Pulwama terrorist assault. “The Pulwama incident occurred while he (Lt Gen Munir) was DG of the ISI in November, and it took place in February 2019. He also worked in the central areas that had a view of or dealt with Kashmir, an Indian region. “He is, therefore, well-versed in this field,” Devasher stated in an interview.
Following the suicide attack that claimed the lives of 40 members of the CRPF when their convoy was ambushed on the Jammu Srinagar highway on February 14, 2019, tensions between India and Pakistan grew.
Lt Gen Munir is anticipated to succeed 61-year-old Bajwa as Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), as Bajwa is set to retire on November 29.
General Munir’s appointment as the new head of Pakistan’s armed forces will have an impact, according to Devasher, “No army chief of Pakistan has been friendly towards India. So, Asim Munir is not going to break the mould. He will continue to have a hardline stance towards India.”
Devasher said, “If problems in Pakistan escalate and he has the experience. It’s quite likely, India should have to be prepared that he is going to be… and he has this thing on Pulwama. So, we need to be very careful on this particular score.”
India has been keenly monitoring the situation because it is anticipated that the new Pakistani Army chief will have an impact on the government’s position on relations between Islamabad and New Delhi as well as Pakistan’s policy toward its “all-weather friend” China and the United States.
The Financial Action Task Force, a global organisation that monitors money laundering and terrorism financing, recently removed Pakistan from its watchlist (FATF). The economy of the nation is likewise in a very fragile position.
Experts claim that Pakistan has always turned to terrorist acts against India to maintain tensions.
…they cannot afford to do anything against India, given the strong reaction India has shown in the past that if you do anything, we will hit you back. So, he (Lt Gen. Munir) will have to watch his steps very carefully. But, we will have to be certainly very careful.” According to Devasher, who has authored three books on Pakistan.
Lt. Gen. Munir has held the positions of director of military intelligence and director general of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Beginning in 2017, he held the job of head of military intelligence for a total of 21 months.
He was appointed director-general of ISI in October 2018, but Bajwa relieved him of his duties at the request of Imran Khan, who was the country’s prime minister at the time. Notably, Khan claimed that the army was responsible for his removal from office earlier this year.
Devasher claims that four or five army chiefs were appointed during the PML-N government’s rule in Pakistan without regard to seniority in the armed forces.