The government has appointed Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu as the new chief of the air staff, a statement from the Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said on Wednesday.

Air Marshal Sidhu will take over the command from March 19 upon the completion of Air Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan's tenure.

Air Marshal Sidhu was earlier posted as the deputy chief of administrative affairs.

He joined the GD (P) branch of the PAF in 1986 as a fighter pilot and has also commanded a fighter squadron, operational airbase and regional command during his service.

He also served as the assistant chief of the air staff (operations research and development), assistant chief of air staff (training officers) and director general projects at Air Headquarters Islamabad. He served as the additional secretary in the Ministry of Defence as well.

Air Marshal Sidhu is a graduate of Britain's Combat Commanders School, Air War College and the Royal College of Defence Studies.

He has been awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military) and Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Military) in recognition of his services.

Sidhu is the son of renowned religious scholar Hakeem Ghulam Muhammad and hails from Gujrat. This makes him the third service chief to come from Gujrat, with retired Admiral Mohammad Sharif and retired Gen Raheel Sharif being the other two.

Earlier in the day, President Dr Arif Alvi conferred the award of Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Civil) on outgoing Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan at a special investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-i-Sadr, Radio Pakistan reported.