New Delhi: In a big development, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General Mohammad Asim Malik has been appointed as the country’s new National Security Adviser (NSA), according to a report in the Express Tribune.
The appointment is an additional charge given to Lieutenant General Malik, who has been serving as the ISI chief since September 2024.
Before taking charge as the Director General of ISI, Lt Gen Malik had served as the Adjutant General at Pakistan Army’s general headquarters, where he oversaw military administrative affairs, including legal and disciplinary issues.
As per the Express Tribune report, an important event during his tenure as Adjutant General was the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and the subsequent protests by his backers and party workers.
Throughout his career, he has also commanded divisions in Balochistan and South Waziristan, both of which have thrown up crucial security challenges.
India-Pakistan tensions continue to escalate
Malik’s appointment comes at a time when India-Pakistan tensions have escalated in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the deaths of 26 civilians. Responding to the attack, New Delhi has taken a slew of measures, including closing its airspace to all Pakistani planes, suspending the Indus Water Treaty and suspending the social media accounts of several Pakistani artists like Hania Amir, Mahira Khan, and Ali Zafar.
Pakistan has said it has nothing to do with the Pahalgam attack and issued a threat that it will respond strongly if it is “provoked”.
Pakistan continued to indulge in ceasefire violations along the Line of Control for the seventh consecutive night on Friday. Unprovoked small arms fire was reported from the Pakistani side at the international border in Jammu and Kashmir’s Akhnoor sector on Thursday.
