Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has assured the nation that the armed forces have distanced themselves from politics and wanted to continue to do so, according to a media report on Wednesday.
Gen Bajwa, who is in the US, also reiterated his promise to leave office after completing his second three-year term in November, adding that he would fulfill the pledge he made earlier, the Dawn newspaper reported. Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Bajwa, 61, would retire on November 29. Bajwa had been given an extension for a second term of three years in 2019.
His remarks came at a lunch hosted at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington.
According to those who attended the event, Bajwa said that the armed forces have distanced themselves from politics and wanted to continue to do so, the newspaper reported.
These remarks came in the wake of former premier Imran Khan making anti-military statements.
Bajwa has held the top post of the Pakistan Army for six years. He was initially appointed in 2016, but after three years of tenure, the then government of Imran Khan in 2019 extended his service for another three years.
The appointment of the Army chief is the sole prerogative of the prime minister. The upcoming appointment of a new Army chief is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.