Lieutenant General Mohammad Asim Malik was on Monday announced as the country's next spy chief, replacing the incumbent Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum who served for nearly three years in the role.
The appointment of the country's top spy, the head of the country's premier intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has always been a major headline. Lt Gen Malik joins a list of illustrious and sometimes infamous past ISI chiefs from Lt General Asad Durrani, Lt General Hameed Gul, Lt General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Lt General Zaheer ul Islam, and most recently, Lt General Faiz Hameed.
How is the ISI chief appointed?
According to the rules, the director general of the ISI reports to the country’s prime minister. However, with a strong trend of appointing serving senior officers from the military as the head of the spy organisation, they are also answerable to the army chief.
Per the established practice, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) sends a list of a few names to the prime minister to pick one as the ISI chief. The Ministry of Defense has stated that four names were shortlisted and sent to the prime minister who approved the name of Lt Gen Malik for the role.
While this is the standard procedure, informed sources claim that the army cief usually informs the prime minister in advance about who he believes is the most suitable candidate for the spy hot seat. The appointment, thus, usually follows the army chief’s most preferred choice. If the prime minister exercises his discretion and appoints an ISI chief of his choosing, it could lead to tensions between the civilian government and the military leadership.
Recent history has shown what these tensions could mean. When the outgoing ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum was appointed to the post in 2021. At the time, then-prime minister Imran Khan and COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa developed differences over the appointment. Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum was appointed on November 20, 2021, replacing Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.
Although the two were initially on the "same page," this page was quickly torn to shreds over the appointment. Imran wanted to retain Lt Gen Faiz Hameed as the ISI chief, while Gen Bajwa insisted on keeping with tradition and appointing Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum as the ISI chief after Lt Gen Hameed's two-year term ended. Gen Bajwa wanted to appoint Lt Gen Faiz to other important positions that would help chart a path for him to eventually qualify as the next army chief. Imran Khan, however, disagreed with Gen Bajwa's assessment and wanted to retain Lt Gen Hameed in the role of ISI chief and delayed signing the summary to appoint Lt Gen Anjum for more than a month. Even after verbally agreeing to the matter, and the army issuing the notification, Imran, did not sign the summary, causing a rift with the military. Eventually, Imran relented and agreed to the appointment and signed the summary a month later than he was supposed to.
This appointment is said to have been one of the major reasons for the rift between Imran Khan and General Bajwa, which ultimately led to a vote of no-confidence in Parliament that ousted Imran's government.
Curiously, Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum was set to retire in September 2023, but his tenure was extended for another year.
It is pertinent to note that two days ago, analyst Muzzammil Suharwardi had broken the news of Lt Gen Malik's appointment as ISI chief on Naya Daur, stating that the current ISI DG Lt Gen Anjum, will be retiring.
Who is Lt Gen Asim Malik?
Lt Gen Asim Malik hails from a military family. His father, Ghulam Mohammad Malik, retired as a Lieutenant General from the Pakistan Army after having served as the commander of the prestigious 10 Corps. Lt Gen (retd) Ghulam Mohammad Malik, commonly known as General GM, also served as the Corps Commander of Rawalpindi during the early 1990s when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s relations soured. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan ultimately dismissed Nawaz Sharif’s first government, but the Supreme Court reinstated it in 1993. During this period, relations between Nawaz Sharif and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan had deteriorated and the then-Army Chief General Abdul Waheed Kakar tried to mediate between the two.
When Nawaz Sharif was asked to resign, he set the condition that President Ghulam Ishaq Khan must also resign. At that time, Lt Gen Ghulam Mohammad Malik was the Rawalpindi Corps Commander. Nawaz Sharif then resigned. While leaving the Presidency after one negotiation session, Nawaz lashed out at the President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. angrily made remarks about President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Lt Gen Ghulam Mohammad Malik, present on the occasion, urged Nawaz Sharif not to say such things about the President since he was no longer the prime minister.
After retiring in 1995, Lt Gen Ghulam Mohammad Malik established a charitable organisation that built hospitals for the poor in various parts of Pakistan.
Lt Gen Asim Malik's military career
Lt Gen Asim Malik joined the army through the 80th Long Course. He was awarded the Sword of Honor for best overall performance during basic training.
According to military sources, Lt Gen Malik, who belongs to the Baloch Regiment, is currently serving as the Adjutant General at the GHQ (General Headquarters).
Previously, Lt Gen Malik had commanded an infantry division in Balochistan and an infantry brigade in Waziristan, primarly during the War on Terror. He has also served in the Military Operations Directorate. Furthermore, he has served as a chief instructor at the National Defence University (NDU) and an instructor at the Command and Staff College in Quetta.
Lt Gen Malik is a graduate of Fort Leavenworth, USA and the Royal College of Defence Studies, UK. He had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General on October 6, 2021. It is reported that he was also handling the court-martial proceedings of former ISI DG Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.
Suhail Warraich’s Prediction
Following the 2024 general elections, renowned columnist and senior journalist Suhail Warraich wrote an allegorical column in which he likened Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum to a fox and Lt Gen Faisal Naseer to a stag, describing the ongoing friction between the two. He wrote that this disagreement between the two senior officers was causing significant damage to Army Chief General Asim Munir. While both have different viewpoints and approaches, they remain loyal to the army chief, he argued.
Warraich further claimed that the two senior officials could not work together, and one of them had to go. He speculated that if the army chief decides to give the current government a free hand, Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum would prevail, as he had been advising the army chief from the beginning to follow the model of a neighbouring region for development. However, Lt Gen Faisal Naseer believes that the army and its leadership should retain control over national affairs.
If Suhail Warraich's predictions are to be believed, the retirement of Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum signals that the army has decided on its future strategy. If the army leadership had decided to give the current government a "free hand", as Suhail Warraich speculated— Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, who was already serving as ISI chief, until further notice, would likely have remained in his position. In that scenario, Lt Gen Faisal Naseer, who was reportedly at odds with Lt Gen Anjum over strategic approaches, could have been transferred.