Islamabad, Pakistan – Basic Asim Munir has what’s arguably probably the most highly effective place within the nation after he took cost of Pakistan’s nuclear-armed army final week.
The 57-year-old former spy chief can now maintain important sway over the nation’s inside and exterior affairs.
Munir has taken over at a time when Pakistan faces a number of crises: a voluble opposition demanding quick elections, an financial meltdown, and historic floods that submerged one-third of the nation this 12 months.
Listed here are the 5 largest duties earlier than Munir as he begins his tenure:
Home politics
Analysts say the foremost problem the brand new military chief should deal with is the chaos and instability engulfing politics since former Prime Minister Imran Khan was faraway from workplace.
Khan misplaced a parliamentary vote of confidence in April this 12 months, a defeat he alleged was orchestrated by america in collusion together with his political rivals and the highly effective army.
Each Islamabad and Washington repeatedly denied the fees.
In a U-turn final month, the top of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) get together stated he now not blamed the US for his removing, stressing that he desires good relations with Washington if and when he comes again to energy.
Though Khan continues to fiercely criticise the army for its intervention in politics, the cricketer-turned-politician has beforehand requested the military to advance elections, in any other case due in late 2023.
Lahore-based political analyst Majid Nizami says Munir’s time period will probably be carefully watched after what his predecessor Qamar Javed Bajwa stated in his farewell speech final month.
Addressing the military’s prime brass, Bajwa stated the army has determined to now not meddle in political issues, as a result of such interventions, which occurred up to now in response to him, can be unconstitutional.
“He (Munir) should first set up his credibility as a very impartial military chief so that he’s acceptable throughout the political spectrum with out query,” Nizami instructed Al Jazeera.
Mosharraf Zaidi of Islamabad-based Tabadlab think-tank says the army’s frequent meddling in politics and its management over media ought to finish.
“Beneath a brand new chief, the army should resist the urge to make use of the huge extraconstitutional and unlawful affect and energy the army has over judiciary, the civilian administration throughout the nation and the information media,” he stated.
Army’s picture
That brings us to Munir’s second largest problem – the army’s picture among the many Pakistani folks.
The military has immediately dominated Pakistan for greater than 30 of its 75 years as an impartial nation and is taken into account the nation’s chief arbiter in home issues, whether or not in energy or not.
Retired military normal Omar Mahmood Hayat says boosting the morality of the army’s rank and file must be a precedence for Munir.
“We now have seen up to now that with an expert method, it doesn’t take lengthy for the picture to be corrected,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
Asif Yasin Malik, former defence secretary and retired military officer, thinks “notion administration” will probably be a problem for Munir.
“The primary problem for him is to handle the notion about military relating to its involvement in politics. That is the very first thing he should go after and rectify. That is hurting military’s operational mindset,” he stated.
“They [soldiers] ought to have the ability to see what is going on on this planet and what’s being stated on WhatsApp or social media, however their focus must be in direction of their mission {and professional} orientation.”
The TTP risk and Afghanistan
Abdul Syed, an knowledgeable on Pakistan and Afghanistan, instructed Al Jazeera one among Munir’s most important challenges can be to comprise the rising risk of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) armed group.
Final week, the TTP, which is ideologically aligned with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, broke a ceasefire agreed with the Pakistani authorities in June – a deal brokered by Kabul.
Within the assertion asserting the tip of the ceasefire, the TTP ordered its fighters to launch new assaults “in the whole nation”. Two days later, three folks, together with a police officer, have been killed in a suicide bomb blast claimed by the TTP throughout a polio immunisation marketing campaign within the southwestern metropolis of Quetta.
In response to the information compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Research, an Islamabad-based analysis organisation, the TTP has launched greater than 70 armed assaults this 12 months alone, killing dozens.
Pakistan is demanding that Kabul act towards the TTP management, which Islamabad alleges has taken refuge in Afghanistan whereas the Taliban keep their territory is not going to be used for finishing up assaults on one other nation.
“It’s fairly evident that Pakistani Taliban has discovered refuge in Afghanistan. Pakistan now has two avenues to resolve this difficulty – one is political, and different is army,” Syed stated.
“If Pakistan chooses army motion, it should inevitably hurt relations with Afghan Taliban authorities and can hamper its strategic aims. However, Pakistan can try to search a non-military answer to pressurise the Afghan Taliban into controlling TTP and to make sure they don’t launch assaults in Pakistan.”
India
India is traditionally Pakistan’s most important rival, implicating the militaries of each nations. The 2 nuclear powers have fought two of their three full-scale wars over Kashmir, a Himalayan area cut up between the 2 international locations however claimed in full by each of them.
Each international locations steadily blame one another’s army intelligence for armed assaults on their soil.
In early 2019, they have been on the verge of one other struggle after India blamed Pakistan for a lethal assault in Indian-administered Kashmir and responded with an air raid throughout the border.
The relations worsened and all diplomatic ties between them froze later that 12 months after India’s Hindu nationalist authorities stripped Indian-administered Kashmir of its particular standing and launched an unprecedented safety clampdown within the valley that lasted for months.
Frequent skirmishes alongside their Himalayan border adopted till March 2021 when the 2 international locations determined to comply with a ceasefire settlement signed in 2003.
Days after he took over as military chief, Munir visited Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the place he pledged to “defend each inch of our motherland”.
“The Indian state won’t ever have the ability to obtain her nefarious designs,” he stated.
Balancing US, China ties
Pakistan has traditionally maintained shut ties with each China and the US and lots of observers say sustaining shut ties with the 2 world rivals will probably be one among Munir’s key challenges.
However the final decade or so has seen an rising reliance on its northeastern neighbour, with China investing billions of {dollars} in tasks throughout Pakistan.
In the meantime, Islamabad’s relations with Washington have been icy, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif now searching for to fix ties soured throughout Khan’s tenure.
Former military chief Bajwa visited each China and the US within the final months of his tenure.
“They [China] have by no means dictated us who to be associates with and who to not be. However the People and Western international locations appear to have a problem with that,” former defence secretary Malik instructed Al Jazeera.
Islamabad-based international coverage analyst Mohammed Faisal thinks Munir should discover a solution to stability “competing pressures” from Beijing and Washington.
“Pakistan seeks army and financial help from each international locations, and it should discover a solution to safe requisite help from each the main lenders,” he stated.
Tabadlab’s Zaidi, nonetheless, stated the army ought to “totally help the federal government’s international coverage engagements and resist the urge to guide or run the international coverage themselves”.