Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday expressed the hope that the new Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa would carry forward the mission of his predecessor General Raheel Sharif.
“I pray for the success of General Qamar Javed Bajwa,” Khawaja Asif said in an interview with the press shortly after the appointments of new army chief and CJCSC were announced.
“Two of the best officers of Pakistan Army have been selected for the positions of Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC),” he said.
General Raheel Sharif has spearheaded the recent step up in efforts against terrorism on Pakistani soil, including overseeing the Operation Zarb e Azb in North Waziristan, and the National Action Plan in the rest of the country.
General Qamar Javed Bajwa takes over charge of Pakistan Army from General Raheel Sharif as the new COAS, while General Zubair Mahmood Hayat takes over the post of CJCSC. These changes come to us at a time when tensions with India have rocketed along the Line of Control, after an attack at Uri in Indian Occupied Kashmir.
To a question, Khawaja Asif said that Pakistan was facing the daunting challenges of terrorism and border tension with India.The nation, he said, stands shoulder to shoulder with the government and armed forces of Pakistan. – SAMAA
