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Asim Malik's shift to the important DG, ISI post comes as something of a surprise now, but it indicates the army chief's confidence in him, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Lieutenant General Muhammad Asim Malik, Adjutant General, Pakistan army, has been appointed the new director general, Inter Services Intelligence directorate, with effect from September 30, 2024 as the one year extension given to the current incumbent, Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum, draws to a close.
Belonging to the 12 Baloch Regiment, Asim Malik won the sword of honour at the 80th Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul course, joining the army in 1989.
This is the same regiment as his father's, Lieutenant General Ghulam Muhd Malik (retd), who last commanded the X Corps, Rawalpindi.
The Maliks are from the Awan tribe, hailing from Shahpur in Sargodha district, traditionally part of central Punjab's recruiting heartland for the Pakistan army.
Asim Malik was promoted to three star rank in October 2021 almost a year before his peers, when General Qamar Javed Bajwa was the army chief. He was then serving as vice chief at General Headquarters.
Earlier, he had commanded the 41 Infantry Division in Quetta, an infantry brigade in Waziristan and served in the Military Operations Directorate at a junior level.
He also did appointments as an instructor at the Command and Staff College, Quetta, and as chief instructor, National Defence University, Rawalpindi. At the NDU, he obtained a Phd; his doctoral thesis was on Pakistan-US relations.
As the son of an influential father in the army, it was perhaps not unusual for him to have done training-cum-study stints at both the prestigious Royal College of Defence Studies, London, and the Fort Leavenworth Staff College in the United States.
Asim Malik's term as lieutenant general will end on November 28, 2025, when he would be the senior most three star general eligible for elevation to four star rank, either as army chief (if Asim Munir retires on time) or as chairman, joint chiefs of staff committee (CJCSC), which may also fall vacant on retirement of the current incumbent, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza.
However, he has not commanded a corps yet.
It is believed that Asim Munir sounded him out twice during the turbulent post May 9, 2023 period, for holding a corps command, at IV Corps, Lahore after Lieutenant General Salman Fayyaz Ghani had to be removed in disrepute (later court martialled) or later, at I Corps, Mangla when Lieutenant General Ayman Bilal Safdar was hastily retired, both of which he declined, hoping to end his army career at the same acme that his father did, as corps commander, X Corps Rawalpindi.
In this context, Asim Malik's shifting to the important DG, ISI post comes as something of a surprise, but it indicates the army chief's confidence in him, perhaps more so than that reposed in Lieutenant General Shahid Imtiaz, the present Rawalpindi Corps commander, who was being widely rumoured to move to the ISI.
As adjutant general, Asim Malik is believed to have emerged as a strict disciplinarian dealing with dissensions within the army during a difficult time.
He is also believed to have been closely involved in sewing up the nitty gritty of Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed (retd)'s misdemeanours before his arrest and enunciation of court martial proceedings.
As things currently stand, Asim Malik will have a 14 month term at the ISI.
Precedents of extension exist, as in the recent cases of Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha and Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum himself, which could be employed by the army chief to give him a longer stint there.
This would depend perhaps on the complexities of the evolving external and domestic political situation then.
The challenges which will confront Asim Malik in this new assignment will include handling the resurgent terrorism of the Tehrik e Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially the complex dealings with some of its less recalcitrant factions operating in Swat, Lakki Marwat and Waziristan.
It would also involve taking fresh stock of the simmering Baloch insurgency in wide swathes of Balochistan.
Whether this would lead to a change of course, with a combination of talks, velvet or iron fist, only time would tell, but Asim Malik's proclivities would seem to indicate a no-nonsense firm approach.
On the domestic front, no change is likely in handling the Pakistan Tehrik e Insaf's second string politicians or its incarcerated leader, former prime minister Imran Khan.
The task of demolishing his populist narrative of premature or unfair martyrdom remains unfinished.
Dealing with the faction ridden higher judiciary may still pose problems where the front of civilian politicians currently forming the power facade may continue to be used, to push suitable amendments through.
'Asim' in Urdu translates to 'a shield' or 'protector' or 'muhafiz'.
To use a phrase much touted in Indian parlance, Pakistan will now embark on an 'Asim' 'double engine' journey, to contend with its multifarious problems.