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Chief of General Staff
Flag of the Pakistan Army
Incumbent Lt. GeneralAzhar Abbas since 8 September 2021
Chief of General Staff (abbreviated as CGS) is the most coveted position within the Pakistan Army after that of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Although four-star Chief of Army Staff (COAS) is the head of the land forces, CGS is "the organisational lead on both intelligence and operations".[1] Since 1985 a three-star lieutenant general is appointed to the post of CGS.
The selection for Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) have a preference for the officer candidate having served as the Chief of General Staff. Of the last 13 four-star army generals, eight officers had served a tenure as the CGS. Of the five who hadn't, Pervez Musharraf and Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had served as Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), while Ehsan ul Haq had served as Director General of Military Intelligence (DGMI), all two-star postings under the CGS.
Therefore, the army chief essentially appoints his most trusted aides for these two postings before making a routine reshuffle. Gen Ziauddin Butt, who was nominated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after retiring Pervez Musharraf, passed his first orders to appoint Lt Gen Muhammad Akram as CGS and Lt Gen Salim Haider as Commander, X Corps. But before this order could be conveyed to the rest of the army, Aziz and Mahmud took steps to reverse the order by overthrowing the government and thus essentially starting the 1999 coup.