Enter new ISI chief
While Lt Gen Akhtar seems to possess the skills necessary for the job, DG ISI will be an entirely different challenge
Naming the next chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) a full month and a half before the incumbent’s retirement will no doubt raise some questions about the move being punitive. Yet such a view would overlook the strategic advantages involved.
Not only does it put to rest disruptive speculations and mischievous rumours that so often swirl around such appointments, it also allows time for both the incumbent and his successor to work together to ensure a smooth transition. And a smooth transition in such a pivotal office — and one so dissimilar from any other posting that simply relying on experience alone does not help — is paramount. The post Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar is set to take over demands a range of expertise, and the ISI chief-designate has a packed resume. Having recently spearheaded the politically-sensitive Karachi Operation as the DG of the Sindh Rangers, he has also commanded troops in the rugged and unforgiving terrain of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. However, make no mistake: while he seems to possess the skills necessary for the job, DG ISI will be an entirely different challenge — one that has tested the resolve and character of the best.
However, the most interesting bit of information that has come to the fore about the new DG is his diplomatic skills and tilt. It is being reported that, when at the US Army War College Lt Gen Akhtar wrote a paper back in 2008 advocating that Pakistan “must aggressively pursue rapprochement with India”. How far he will continue to hold this view, let alone pursue it, is anyone’s guess — but it is good to know that the man occupying such an important post cannot be charged with being unnecessarily hostile towards, or sceptical of, Pakistan’s archrival. Distancing his institution from the current political mess (whether the involvement is real or perceived) and ensuring water-tight country-wide intelligence monitoring over backlash from Zarb-e-Azb will be the two files he needs to open first.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2014.
Not only does it put to rest disruptive speculations and mischievous rumours that so often swirl around such appointments, it also allows time for both the incumbent and his successor to work together to ensure a smooth transition. And a smooth transition in such a pivotal office — and one so dissimilar from any other posting that simply relying on experience alone does not help — is paramount. The post Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar is set to take over demands a range of expertise, and the ISI chief-designate has a packed resume. Having recently spearheaded the politically-sensitive Karachi Operation as the DG of the Sindh Rangers, he has also commanded troops in the rugged and unforgiving terrain of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. However, make no mistake: while he seems to possess the skills necessary for the job, DG ISI will be an entirely different challenge — one that has tested the resolve and character of the best.
However, the most interesting bit of information that has come to the fore about the new DG is his diplomatic skills and tilt. It is being reported that, when at the US Army War College Lt Gen Akhtar wrote a paper back in 2008 advocating that Pakistan “must aggressively pursue rapprochement with India”. How far he will continue to hold this view, let alone pursue it, is anyone’s guess — but it is good to know that the man occupying such an important post cannot be charged with being unnecessarily hostile towards, or sceptical of, Pakistan’s archrival. Distancing his institution from the current political mess (whether the involvement is real or perceived) and ensuring water-tight country-wide intelligence monitoring over backlash from Zarb-e-Azb will be the two files he needs to open first.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2014.