Gen Qamar Bajwa is new army chief

ISLAMABAD: The government Saturday appointed Lt Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) and Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa as Chief of the Army Staff (COAS).

According to a Prime Minister House spokesperson, on the advice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Mamnoon Hussain promoted Lt Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat and Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to the rank of General.

The PM met the president today and took him into confidence over the appointments at the army top slots.

COAS Gen Raheel Sharif and CJCSC Gen Rashad Mahmood are retiring on Nov 29.

The Change of Command ceremony would be held at the Army Hockey Stadium on Nov 29 at 10:30 am during which outgoing military chief General Raheel would hand over the command of the army to the new chief.

The prime minister met both the generals at the PM House and congratulated them.

Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa: Profile

Lt. Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa was previously Commander of an important Rawalpindi Corps and is presently employed as Inspector General Training and Evaluation at GHQ, a position General Raheel Sharif held before becoming the army chief.

Normally, commanding a corps carries huge weightage before being considered for promotion to the four-star general.

He has commanded 10 Corps [Rawalpindi Corps], which is responsible for the most sensitive areas of the country and a position that plays a pivotal role as almost the entire border with India comes under its jurisdiction.

The entire defence installations, including army, navy and air headquarters, PM Secretariat are also under the responsibility of a Commander of 10 Corps.

Lt-Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa also commanded a brigade headquarter as a brigade major, commanded infantry unit as Lt Col, he was Grade-I officer [GSO-I] in 10 Corps headquarters and has also commanded a brigade in an operation area.

As a brigadier, he held a position of COS [chief of staff] at 10 Corps and also commanded formation division in Northern Areas as formation commander (FCNA). Besides, he also commanded infantry school and as Lt-Gen, he commanded 10 Corps.

Lt-Gen Bajwa was in 10 Corps thrice and has an extensive experience of handling affairs in Kashmir and the Northern Areas.

Gen. Zubair Mahmood Hayat: Profile

General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, graduated from Command and Staff College Camberley, United Kingdom, and National Defence University, Islamabad. The general served on key posts throughout his career.

As a major general, Hayat served as General Officer Commanding (GOC) Sialkot and led Staff Duties Directorate. He was elevated to lieutenant general in January 2013 and was instated as corps commander Bahawalpur.

He was later appointed as the director general (DG) of the Strategic Plans Division in December 2013. The division, formed in 2001, is vital to research for and development of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, and it works as the secretariat of National Command Authority.

After this crucial responsibility, General Zubair Hayat was appointed as Chief of General Staff (CGS).

Hayat hails from a military family. His father retired from Pakistan Army as a major general.

One of Gen. Zubair's brother, Lt. Gen. Umar Hayat, is serving as chairman of Pakistan Ordinance Factory Wah Cantt.