Summary General Kayani assumed responsibilities as the 14th COAS on November 18, 2007.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will host a farewell dinner reception in the honour of the outgoing Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani today (Wednesday).
The Prime Minister will be announcing the name of the country’s new Chief of Army Staff on November 28.
Three senior generals, Lieutenant-General Haroon Aslam, Lieutenant-General Tariq Khan and Lieutenant-General Rashad Mahmood, are seen as main contenders for the top slot in the country’s most powerful institution.
General Kayani, who was grappled with serious security challenges coming from eastern and western borders and homegrown militancy during his two tenures (each comprising three years) as most powerful chief of army staff, would be retiring in next 48 hours and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would appoint a new army chief.
General Kayani’s six years as commander of most powerful institution of Pakistan would be seen as successful; particularly his full support to democracy would be remembered as a “best thing” happened to Pakistan’s fledging democracy.
Kayani commanded two full-scale military operations as well as a series of targeted operations and crackdowns aimed at surgical cleansing in the militant-infested northwestern belt.
On external front, there was India’s Cold Start doctrine and Proactive Strategy, seeking to change the way India may mobilise its forces and fight the future war in order to achieve its politico-military objectives. This is likely to change the traditional model of war-waging from ‘mobilisation and then going to war’ to ‘going to war/ attacking and then mobilising’.
Accordingly, under General Kayani, a process of refining the existing concepts and developing new approaches to war fighting has been vigorously pursued through a series of war games at corps, command and army levels since 2009, namely Azm-e-Nau series.
Commissioned in Baloch Regiment, General Kayani assumed responsibilities as the 14th COAS on November 18, 2007, at a time when image of the Army was tarnished and Pakistan was rocked by political instability and terrorism.
