Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is likely to pick Pakistan’s next Army chief from among four generals, and a key factor will be the officer’s views on India, a newspaper said on Sunday.
The four officers in line to succeed incumbent General Raheel Sharif are lt Gen Zubair Hayat, lt Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed, lt Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday and lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Dawn reported.
The daily quoted an unnamed politician close to the Prime Minister as saying that Nawaz Sharif would consider his working relationship with the officers who have interacted with him frequently.
“In addition, the position of the candidates on political developments in the country ... will also be a deciding factor.
“For this, it is said, the Prime Minister will be relying on intelligence reports he has been receiving,” the Dawn added.
It said another consideration likely to be taken into account “would be the prospective candidates’ views on foreign policy issues, particularly ties with India”.
The Prime Minister holds a one-on-one consultation with the Army chief on prospective candidates, it said.
“Gen Raheel Sharif would not like to become controversial and would not like the Prime Minister to use his recommendation as an excuse to distort the seniority list,” a retired general was quoted as saying.