Khawaja Asif says new COAS will be appointed by Nov 25

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that the process for the appointment of new Chief of the Army Staff has been set into motion and the new COAS will be appointed by November 25.

The defence minister made it clear that there was no deadlock on the issue of the appointment of the new Army chief.

He said the process for the appointment of Army chief had begun denying any deadlock on it.

“The summary regarding appointment of new Army chief will be received tomorrow. When we will get the summary, consultation will be held on the proposed names and new Chief of Army Staff will be announced by Nov 25,” Kh Asif said.

The defence minister said that there would be 5 or 6 names in the summary along with the dossiers attached to them.

“We are not under pressure vis-à-vis new army chief’s appointment,” he said adding that the allies were being consulted on every stage.

The defence minister said that one name would be finalized out of the 5 or 6 proposed names suggested in the summary.

He said that the government would make the decision after taking the Pakistan Army leadership into confidence on the proposed names. “So far no progress has been made on this matter,” he added.

In his tweet today, Kh Asif wrote: “The process for the appointment to the highest positions of Pakistan Army has started today. God willing, soon the appointments will be completed as per the constitutional requirements.”