How new NSA appointment strengthens Pak army chief Munir's control on Pakistan

Pakistan army chief Gen Asim Munir has taken firm control over civilian authority with the first appointment of a serving military general, in this case director general, Inter Services Intelligence (DG-ISI) Lt Gen Asim Malik, as Pakistan’s national security adviser (NSA). Put simply, the Pakistan NSA will follow the DG ISI’s military chain of command and report directly to the army chief.This appointment has weakened the office of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who now stands like a pale shadow of the power his predecessor Imran Khan wielded. NSA’s office was vacant since 2022 when Moeed Yusuf, a scholar who was picked for the post by Khan, moved out.By placing the serving DG ISI as NSA, the first message Munir has conveyed externally is that the army is now in control and will be the point of contact for all security and related conversions for all foreign governments. Importantly, NSA level talks and intelligence community conversations will converge under one military office. So, for instance, the US NSA, US director of national intelligence and Central Intelligence Agency chief will have to deal with Malik.The problem is that the earlier NSA used to report to the Pakistan PM. Now, Malik, while working under the legal and constitutional cover of Sharif’s office, will report to Munir. Both officers are known to have worked closely with each other during the bitter fight with Imran Khan.Munir, who was DG ISI when the Pulwama attack took place in 2019, was replaced within eight months of being in office by Khan. He shared a bitter relationship with his successor Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed, seen as a Khan loyalist in the military, and against whom Munir found a willing collaborator in Malik.It was Malik, who as adjutant general, probed the riots which followed Khan’s arrest in which many civilians were tried in military courts. He was the one who launched court martial proceedings on graft charges against Faiz Hameed, former head of Pakistan's ISI, and oversaw the entire process. In Sharif's nameThe other message is that Pakistan’s entire security decision-making apparatus is now fully in the army’s grip. Between Munir and Malik, they will now ensure that the Pakistan PM’s role in framing defence, security and, to an extent, economic policies is made redundant.At best, Sharif will now run a front office while Munir will take all critical decisions in his name.The role of NSA in Pakistan has evolved over the years into one which keeps the balance between the civilian office and the military power centre. It was through this office that Pakistan’s leadership has engaged India in backchannel talks — whether it was Tariq Aziz in the past or Nasir Khan Janjua, who was in touch with NSA Ajit Doval, in the initial years after PM Narendra Modi came to power.With the appointment of a serving officer as NSA, this balance has shifted decisively in favour of Rawalpindi. This is in line with the overall shift Munir has tried to effect over the past few months, bringing Kashmir back to the center stage and modeling his approach on Zia-ul-Haq who had said the military’s responsibility was not only “safeguarding the countries territorial integrity but also its ideological frontiers”, a sentiment the Pakistan army chief echoed in his provocative address to overseas Pakistanis. 120817260Munir’s rise in the post-Khan era has been quite dramatic. He was to retire on November 27, 2024, while his predecessor had until November 29 in office. As an exception, he was promoted three days before his retirement, on November 24, resulting in an unprecedented situation where the Pakistan army had two four-star generals at the same time.A product of the Officers Training School (OTS), Mangla, Munir is not the elite officer category, a tag associated with those who are from the Long Course in Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul. The OTS was created to address officer shortage in the army and was shut down in 1990. Not many officers from OTS make it to senior ranks, which are dominated by PMA officers.Malik, on the other hand, is from the top military elite. A sword of honour from PMA Long Course with a doctorate in US-Pakistan relations, Malik provides Munir with the ideal cover as he seeks to consolidate his rise within the system and now the polity, by increasing risks on Kashmir and ratcheting Islamic extremism in dangerous times.