- Services chiefs attend award ceremony in Islamabad.
- DPM Ishaq Dar, Senate chairman among attendees.
- Federal ministers and senior officials also present.
ISLAMABAD: National Strategic Command (NSC) Commander General Syed Amir Raza was conferred the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) by President Asif Ali Zardari at a ceremony held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and the services chiefs also attended the ceremony on Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gillani, federal ministers, other senior officials, and ambassadors of several countries were also present at the event.
PM Shehbaz had promoted Gen Raza — who was previously serving as the Chief of the General Staff — from the Lieutenant General’s rank to the rank of “Four-Star General” and simultaneously appointed him to the coveted post.
The new title — NSC Commander — was established after the Pakistan Army, Air Force, and Navy (Amendment) Bills 2025 were passed last year, and consequently, the post of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) was abolished.
Who is Gen Raza?
General Raza was commissioned in 6 Lancers, a distinguished armoured corps regiment, in 1988. He is a graduate of Command and Staff College Quetta, National Defence University Islamabad, and the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
General Raza has held various important command, staff, and instructional appointments.
He was brigade major of an infantry brigade, General Staff Officer Grade-2 at Chief of General Staff Secretariat, Chief of Staff of a Strike Corps, Director General Weapons and Equipment Directorate, Chairman Heavy Industries Taxila, and Chief of General Staff at the General Headquarters Rawalpindi.
He has commanded an armoured regiment, an armoured brigade, an infantry brigade in South Waziristan, infantry division, and a corps along the eastern border.
He has also remained on the faculty of School of Armour and Mechanised Warfare, and Command and Staff College Quetta as a directing staff, senior instructor, and chief instructor.
