ISLAMABAD: Lieutenant General Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad was appointed Chief of the General Staff (CGS) on Friday, writes Shakil Shaikh.
Taking a prompt decision, the new Army chief General Raheel Sharif took the all-important decision of appointing Lt. Gen. Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed as the new CGS to succeed Lt. Gen. Rashad Mahmood, who was promoted as General and appointed as the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
The CGS enjoys a critical position in the Pakistan Army and the new army chief wasted not even a minute and appointed Lt Gen Ishfaq as the CGS.Gen Ishfaq remained Director-General Military Operations (DGMO) for over two years as a major general.
However, on his promotion as a three-star general two months back, he was given an ad hoc appointment of Vice Chief of the General Staff (VCGS) till his elevation to the post of most important Principal Staff Officer (PSO) at the General Headquarters after theimportant Principal Staff Officer (PSO) at the General Headquarters after the Army Chief.
Lt Gen Ishfaq belongs to 34-AK and he commanded a strike infantry division and led successful military operation in Swat. He was also Chief of Staff of strike Corps Mangla as Brigadier and is rated as one of the finest soldiers in today’s Army.
Defence analysts say Army Chief General Raheel Sharif began his command with a master stroke by appointing Lt Gen Ishfaq as the CGS.
Belonging to Nila (Chakwal), Lt. Gen. Ishfaq was born in the family of highly respected Ahmed Khan Qureshi, who was on the engineering side of Radio Pakistan until his retirement. He has two brothers – Dr Irfan Salim Ahmed (now Executive Director at the Centre of Nanotechnology in the University of Illinois, US) and Imran Naeem Ahmed (a journalist par excellence).
Ishfaq has done Staff College Camberley and is an outstanding officer with exceptional grades. All the brothers went through studies at St Mary’s School in Rawalpindi and Ishfaq was JCB-I and belonged to 62-Long Course of Pakistan Military Academy.
Many say Pakistan Army seems headed by highly professional soldiers like General Raheel Sharif and Lt. Gen. Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad and other Corps Commanders and PSOs besides new generation of General Officers, all ranks and files defending the motherland with full devotion and dedication.
“Pakistan is heading fast towards prosperity, glory and stability with democracy taking firm roots and Pakistan Armed Forces are fully ready to thwart any outside and inside challenges,’ said a former retired General. The appointment of General Raheel Sharif and now the new CGS Lt. Gen. Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad are held as a “good omen”
