Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Outgoing and new Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSCs) General Nadeem Raza, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and newly appointed Army Chief General Asim Munir Thursday paid farewell/welcoming call on President Dr Arif Alvi, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the President’s House and PM House respectively.
As the CJCSC, it was General Raza’s last meeting with the president as the federal government has named Lieutenant General Sahir Shamshad Mirza as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
General Raza — a highly decorated officer — has been serving as the country’s 17th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee since November 2019. Expressing his best wishes for the outgoing CJCSC, the president lauded his services for national defence.
General Raza also called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at PM House. The premier paid tribute to the outgoing CJCSC for his services to Pakistan Army.
Later in the day, Lt Gen Munir and Lt Gen Mirza held separate meetings with PM Shehbaz and President Alvi. A statement from Aiwan-i-Sadr said the new appointees called on President Alvi.
It said Alvi congratulated Sahir Shamshad Mirza HI(M) on his promotion as General, and appointment as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and Syed Asim Munir HI(M) on his promotion as General, and appointment as Chief of Army Staff. “The President expressed his best wishes for their success as CJCSC and COAS,” the statement added.
Separately, the PML-N tweeted videos of Lt Gen Mirza and Lt Gen Munir meeting the premier at the PM House. “The Prime Minister congratulated Lt Gen Syed Asim Munir and Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza and expressed his best wishes for his new responsibilities.”
The premier also hoped that under the new leadership of Gen Munir and Gen Mirza, the armed forces would effectively deal with the challenges facing national security and continue to play an important role in completely eliminating the menace of terrorism from the country.
