New Delhi: Almost a year after Pakistan introduced sweeping changes to its Constitution and gave unprecedented powers to its military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Friday promoted Lt Gen. Aamer Raza to the rank of a four-star general and appointed him as the first Commander of National Strategic Command (CNSC). He will now oversee strategic nuclear assets.
An alumni of the Command and Staff College, Quetta and National Defence University, Islamabad, General Raza was appointed Commander of IV Corps, Lahore, a week after the 9 May 2023 unrest, which saw nationwide protests in Pakistan, sparked by the dramatic arrest of former PM Imran Khan on corruption charges.
With General Raza’s appointment, Pakistan now has its new strategic command structure in place in entirety: a dedicated four-star officer to oversee nuclear and strategic assets, while operating within a military hierarchy that is more centralised than at any point in history.
General Raza, who also served as Pakistan Army’s Chief of General Staff, is a recipient of the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) and the Sitara-i-Basalat for distinguished service.
His appointment marks the latest step in a far-reaching overhaul of Pakistan’s military command structure following adoption of the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
Part of this overhaul was abolition of office of the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), which oversaw coordination among Pakistan’s principal tri-services since its establishment in the aftermath of the 1971 war. The newly-created position of Commander of the National Strategic Command assumes responsibility for Pakistan’s nuclear command functions that previously fell under the purview of CJCSC.
Under the amended constitutional framework, the CNSC is appointed by the Prime Minister exclusively on the recommendation of the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), another office created as part of the reforms.
The transition gathered steam with the retirement of General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Pakistan’s 18th and final Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, in November 2025. His departure marked the dissolution of the office. Its coordinating and strategic responsibilities were then vested in the newly-established CDF structure.
The restructuring followed Munir’s appointment as Pakistan’s first Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) after Parliament approved the constitutional amendments. Munir continues to serve as Chief of Army Staff, becoming the first officer in Pakistan to simultaneously hold both positions, creating a unified command over the country’s armed forces.
The constitutional amendments further insulate the appointment, reappointment or extension of the CNSC from judicial review, stating that the appointing authority’s discretion “shall not be called into question before any court on any ground whatsoever”.
The reforms have fundamentally altered Pakistan’s military hierarchy by consolidating operational authority under the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) while separating the responsibility of the country’s strategic nuclear assets and vesting it with the office of Commander of National Strategic Command.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)