Pakistan Army Chief Gen Asim Munir Promoted to Field Marshal, Nation’s Highest Military Rank

General Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, is going to be promoted to the rank of a field marshal, and, according to the statement from the Prime Minister's Office, for the first time in almost 60 years, a general shall be bestowed this position.

His elevation has been approved by the Cabinet which is presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a few days after the country experienced its worst military clash with India in almost three decades.

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It came "in recognition of the strategic brilliance and courageous leadership that ensured national security and decisively defeated the enemy," Sharif said in a statement from his office.

According to one security official, the rank of field marshal is purely ceremonial and indicates extraordinary leadership and responsibility undertaken in times of war.

This would be the first promotion since the year 1965 when the Pakistani dictator General Ayub Khan declared himself a field marshal.

He will continue to be Chief of Army Staff with the new ceremonial rank attached to him.

It also decided to grant an extension in the tenure of the Chief of the Air Force, Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu, upon the expiry of his service period, the PM's Office stated.

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Both the PM's Office and the Cabinet remain mute on the term of Sidhu's service extension as much as on whether the conferment of Munir to the rank of field marshal would imply that he no longer has a date for retirement.

Munir got started in November 2022 as the Chief of Army.

A parliamentary legal amendment extended Munir's term to five years in November 2023 from the usual three-year term of office for an army chief.

"It is not individual, but an honour for the armed forced of Pakistan and the whole nation," Munir said in a statement issued by the army public relations wing.

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