Who is Lt Gen Asim Munir, PM Shehbaz’s pick for army chief?

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has chosen Lieutenant General Asim Munir to succeed outgoing army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, ending days of speculation, anticipation, and concern that the appointment to the top military position might be delayed. 

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After weeks of speculation, the selection is now awaiting the president's approval. Although Lt. Gen. Munir is an outstanding officer, it was previously thought that he might remain the "dark horse" in the race for the army chief's position due to the technicalities involved.

In September 2018, he was given the rank of three-star general, but he only took over two months later. As a result, his four years as Lieutenant General come to an end on November 27, the same day that Chief of Army Staff Gen. Bajwa and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen. Nadeem Raza will be donning their uniforms. 

Lt Gen Munir was commissioned into the Frontier Force Regiment after completing the Officers Training School program in Mangla. Since he was a brigadier in the Force Command Northern Areas under the current army chief, who was then Commander X Corps, he has been a close aide to Gen. Bajwa. Later, at the beginning of 2017, Lt. Gen. Munir was made director general of Military Intelligence, and in October of that same year, he was made chief of Inter-Services Intelligence. Nonetheless, his spell as the top insight official ended up being the briefest ever, as he was supplanted by Lt Gen Faiz Hamid in somewhere around eight months, on the demand of then-PM Imran Khan. He was assigned to be the commander of the Gujranwala Corps, a position he held for two years before being promoted to the position of quartermaster general at the General Headquarters.