Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa will retire in November this year, the military confirmed on Thursday, ending speculations around his possible extension. In a press conference on Thursday, the military also refused to endorse former prime minister Imran Khan’s "foreign conspiracy" allegation. 

“Chief of Army Staff (General Bajwa) is neither seeking an extension nor will be accepting an extension and will be retiring on 29 November 2022,” Major General Babar Iftikhar, the director-general of the ISPR, said at a press conference on Thursday.

After weeks of political turmoil leading to the change of government, the military on Thursday cleared its stance on several issues, including Khan’s allegation of the “foreign conspiracy” behind the ouster of his government.

“If there was a word of ‘conspiracy’ in the statement [of the NSC], I don’t think so,” the military spokesperson said, virtually puncturing Khan’s earlier claim that the military was also convinced of the conspiracy after the held the meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), which was attended by General Bajwa and his intelligence chief.

The press conference came a day after the military held the meeting of formation commanders where they also took note of “propaganda” and disinformation campaign targeting the military and other institutions, mainly by supporters of Imran Khan.

On its role in the recent political development, Maj Gen Iftikhar said, “The decision [to stay neutral] will stay like. This is the constitutional role of the armed forces and will stay like this.”

He said democracy should be strengthened. “The future is democracy and there will never be a martial law in the country.” Maj Gen Iftikhar said.

On Thursday, while addressing a massive rally in the eastern city of Peshawar, Imran Khan raised the issue of the safety of the country’s nuclear program under the current government.

“I want to ask the institutions that will Pakistan’s nuclear program be safe under these thieves [ a derogatory reference that he makes to address his political opponents],” Khan said in a late-night massive rally. In reference to Khan’s statement, the military said, “Our nuclear program does not have any threats; neither should this be brought under political discussions.”

Significantly, the military also spoke about the former prime minister’s Russia visit, terming the whole situation “embarrassing.”

“Army as the institution was on board for the ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s Russia visit. Nobody in their wildest imagination would have thought that they would wage war the same day when the PM was there, which was embarrassing,” the military spokesperson said.

(SAM)