ISLAMABAD: Gen Nadeem Raza on Wednesday took charge as new Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) in a low-key event at Chaklala.

“General Nadeem Raza, HI (M) assumed appointment of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee at Joint Staff Headquarters today,” military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor tweeted.

Gen Raza was on Nov 21 appointed as the 18th CJCSC to succeed Gen Zubair Hayat, who has retired from service on completion of his tenure.

The change of command at the Joint Staff Headquarters in Chaklala Garrison took place amidst a bruising legal battle at the Supreme Court over the grant of a second tenure to Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa.

No details were provided by the Inter-Services Public Relations about the ceremony at Chaklala. Traditionally, the new CJCSC is presented a guard of honour by a contingent of tri-services and the outgoing chairman hands over the command to his successor at a ceremony attended by the services chiefs and other senior serving and retired officers.

Outgoing chairman Gen Hayat’s farewell to arms ceremony was, meanwhile, held a day earlier (on Tuesday). According to a tweet by his public relations officer, Gen Hayat was presented a guard of honour by a smartly turned out contingent of tri-services at the Joint Staff Headquarters. The PRO further said that besides serving personnel, a large number of retired senior officers also attended the ceremony. None of the services chiefs attended the ceremony as could be seen in the pictures of the event tweeted by the PRO.

Gen Nadeem Raza is from Infantry’s Sindh Regiment. He was earlier posted as Chief of General Staff (CGS) at the GHQ. He has also remained Corps Commander Rawalpindi. The chairman is technically the senior most officer in the hierarchy of the armed forces; however, the newly appointed CJCSC is the youngest among all the four-star officers currently in service.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee is an inter-services forum that works for coordination among the three armed forces. The CJCSC also serves as the principal military adviser to the prime minister and the National Command Authority.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2019