President approves Nishan-i-Imtiaz for new strategic command chief

President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday gave his approved for conferring the Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) on Commander National Strategic Command General Syed Aamer Raza. In a post on the social media platform X, the President’s Secretariat said, “The president has approved conferring Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) on Gen Syed Aamer Raza, the commander of the National Strategic Command.”

Gen Raza has previously been awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) and Sitara-i-Basalat (Star of Valour). Last week, the government had moved another step towards completing the restructuring of its higher military command, initiated under last year’s 27th Constitutional Amendment, by appointing Gen Raza as the country’s first Commander of the Nat­ional Strategic Command, a newly created four-star office that will oversee the operational integration of Pakistan’s strategic forces. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif promoted Gen Raza from the rank of lieutenant general and simultaneously appointed him to the new position.

The office of Commander NSC was created through the 27th Constitutional Amend­ment enacted in November last year, which fundamentally altered Pakistan’s higher defence architecture by abolishing the office of the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and creating the new position of Chief of Defence Forces, held concurrently by the Chief of Army Staff. Field Marshal Asim Munir became the country’s first Chief of Defence Forces following the constitutional changes. Under the amended Army Act, the Commander National Strategic Command is appointed by the prime minister on the recommendation of the Chief of Defence Forces from among serving army generals and serves a three-year term. The office functions as the unified operational headquarters for the strategic forces by bringing together the Army, Navy and Air Force strategic commands under a single command structure. How­ever, the National Comm­and Authority, chaired by the prime minister, continues to retain ultimate authority over nuclear policy and employment. Before his elevation, Gen Raza had been serving as Chief of General Staff, the army’s principal operational appointment, where he oversaw the implementation of organisational changes necessitated by the 27th Amendment and the restructuring that followed last year’s conflict with India, including the establishment of the Army Rocket Force Command. A cavalry officer from OTS and commissioned into the 6th Lancers in 1988, he has commanded an armoured regiment, an armoured brigade, an infantry brigade in South Waziristan, an infantry division and Lahore’s IV Corps. He also headed Heavy Industries Taxila, besides serving as Director General Weapons and Equipment and Chief of Staff at II Corps. At the time of his promotion, Gen Raza ranked eighth on the Army’s seniority list of lieutenant generals.