ISLAMABAD: Lt-General Rizwan Akhtar took over as head of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) yesterday, succeeding retired Lt-General Zaheerul Islam.
“Gen. Akhtar has taken over as the next director general of ISI,” a military official confirmed.
Gen. Akhtar, known to be a close ally of Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif, was named director general of ISI by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in September, more than a month in advance, in an attempt to avoid controversy over the appointment at a time when the civil-military relationship was passing through a critical phase.
With Gen. Akhtar assuming the office of ISI chief, all promotions of two- to three-star generals made by the army chief in the latest phase have taken effect. This makes the army chief more powerful than when he took over command of the army last December, as he is now believed to have consolidated his grip over the army.
The new spy chief has assumed office at a time when the country is faced with grave external and internal challenges.
The landscape of militancy in the country is changing with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan getting weaker and forming new alliances for survival, and Middle East-based terrorist group Islamic State entering Pakistan.
At the same time, the law and order situation in Karachi, where Gen. Akhtar till recently headed Sindh Rangers, is still bad, and insurgency in Balochistan continues to threaten the integrity of the country.
The change comes at a time when civil-military relations are in flux and the ISI is yet to clear itself of allegations of supporting sit-ins by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek that brought the government to a standstill for weeks.
On the external front, tensions with India have heightened and terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan pose a serious threat to the progress made by security forces in their counterterrorism operations in tribal areas.
All these challenges aside, leading the ISI, an intelligence agency which has expanded its domain much beyond the traditional role of a spy outfit to all spheres of governance, is no mean task.
Many have expectations that Gen. Akhtar will fundamentally transform the ISI’s working, but that will be too much to expect from him. The ISI chief may be one of the most powerful persons in the country, but still he has only an implementation role, with policies decided at the General Headquarters.
Therefore, the nuances can change with more focus on counter-militancy, but the basic policy framework will broadly remain unchanged.
While not much is known about Gen. Akhtar’s thinking, an academic dissertation he authored in 2008 while studying at the US Army War College is used by analysts to read his mind.
In the dissertation, Gen. Akhtar advocated “rapprochement with India”, “greater transparency in the (country’s) nuclear programme” and limiting the military’s role to national security from external threats. He had suggested that the army be used for internal security only as a last resort.
Gen. Akhtar’s parent regiment is Frontier Force. Before his Sindh Rangers assignment (2012-2014), he served as general officer commanding in South Waziristan from 2010 to 2012.Internews
