Lieutenant General (r) Nasir Khan Janjua has been appointed National Security Adviser (NSA) while Sartaj Aziz will likely retain his foreign affairs portfolio.
The decision was made in principle during high-level consultations between Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last week, and a summary in this regard was signed by the PM prior to his departure for a four-day official visit to the United States.
A notification is expected to be issued within the next 24 hours.
Janjua will be the second military official to hold the post after Maj Gen (r) Mehmood Durrani who was NSA during the last PPP government.
It is unclear as to why the sudden change in post is being made, though some military sources are speculating the decision was made so that Aziz could focus his attention entirely on foreign affairs.
Janjua will be elevated to the position of minister of state, and his office will be relocated to Prime Minister’s Office. He held the post of Southern Command Quetta before he retired earlier this month. Before that, Janjua was president of the National Defence University, the military’s higher education institute and premier think-tank on national security matters. He also worked on ‘Azm-i-Nau,’ a military preparedness exercise that had a particular focus on India.