New Delhi: In a country where the lines between civilian authority and military power have long blurred, Lt Gen Mohammed Asim Malik’s latest appointment erases them altogether. Pakistan’s new National Security Adviser (NSA) is a man of many firsts.
The 59-year-old is the first serving chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to occupy this office, traditionally held by civilians. It is the first time in Pakistan’s history that one man is holding both offices simultaneously. The three-star general is also the first ISI chief with a doctorate.
When Malik graduated from Pakistan Military Academy in 1989 with the Sword of Honour, few could have predicted that he would one day become the nerve center of Pakistan’s security architecture. His appointment is not merely bureaucratic—it is strategic, a clear consolidation of power within the military establishment amid rising regional tensions.
As ThePrint reported earlier, his appointment signals a bid by Islamabad to revive backchannel talks with India, and was announced after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a telephonic conversation to hold direct talks with New Delhi in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.
Prior to Malik’s appointment, the Pakistan NSA office had remained vacant for two years, quietly fading from relevance during the tenure of former prime minister Imran Khan. The post was even abolished in 2019 owing to opposition from Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was foreign minister in the Khan-led Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
But strained bilateral ties in the backdrop of the terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam has now paved the way for revival of the office of NSA. Malik’s appointment sends a pointed message: Pakistan’s military is not just behind the curtain—it’s writing the script.
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Gen Asim Munir’s Man
The man behind Malik’s rapid rise within Pakistan’s military hierarchy is Gen Asim Munir, the serving army chief and a former ISI chief himself. Malik is widely seen as Munir’s most trusted protégé. He was chosen to succeed Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum as ISI head in September 2024, over more senior officers.
“He is Munir’s most trusted lieutenant,” a source in the Indian security establishment told ThePrint. Adding, “He (Malik) got a promotion one year ahead of his peers.”
Malik’s father Lt Gen (retd) Ghulam Mohammed Malik, commanded the powerful X Corps, Rawalpindi, during the 1993 political standoff between then prime minister Nawaz Sharif and then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Known as General GM, he reportedly advised Nawaz to temper his remarks against the president after Sharif’s resignation.
As for Malik, his tenure as a general ends in September 2025. Extending his role as ISI chief would require civilian approval, technically. But his appointment as NSA has already signalled what’s next.
Pakistan-based journalist Hamid Mir echoed that assessment.
“NSA job is not a military post, it’s a civilian post. Some retired generals served this job in the past. This is the first time a serving general is posted on this job—maybe because it’s the requirement of the current situation. They don’t want to involve too many people in decision making,” Mir told ThePrint.
Lt Gen Asim Malik’s ascent
Malik’s ascent reflects more than personal loyalty—it reflects an institutional transformation. A Baloch Regiment officer, he has been a part of counter-insurgency operations in Waziristan and Balochistan, worked in the Military Operations Directorate, and was Adjutant General at the Army Headquarters—where he played a discreet but key role in the crackdown following the unrest that followed Imran Khan’s arrest on 9 May, 2023.
Malik is also the first ISI chief with a doctorate. His PhD from Islamabad’s National Defence University focused on Pakistan-US relations and mountain warfare, specifically in the context of Kashmir.
Trained at Fort Leavenworth in the US and London’s Royal College of Defence Studies, Malik is fluent in the language of Western military diplomacy—a rare asset in Pakistan military’s senior brass. “He’s not just a general,” Mir said. “He’s a well-read general.”
Moreover, the NSA office in Pakistan has always been fluid—existing partly on paper and partly as a diplomatic backchannel. Under Imran Khan, it had shrunk to irrelevance. Malik’s appointment flips the script.
He now heads the National Security Division within the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and presides over the National Security Committee (NSC)—a body that met just twice between 2023 and 2024. Meanwhile, the military-dominated Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), created to woo foreign investors, met frequently—with the army chief as a member.
Malik’s role as both NSA and ISI chief formalises the military’s dominance over Pakistan’s security and foreign policy apparatus. In practice, he will attend Cabinet meetings, brief the prime minister and president, and coordinate with ministries—placing him above civilian ministers in matters of national security.
It’s a structure that mirrors national security setups in Washington or New Delhi. But there’s a key difference: In Pakistan’s case, the man in the chair is in uniform, not a suit.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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General Munir is a madrasa-chap who cannot even speak English properly. Hope his protege is better educated.