Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa took charge as Pakistan’s new army chief, replacing retiring chief General Raheel Sharif whose three-year term ended today – a rare example of a smooth transition in a nation where army chiefs have a history of clinging to power.

Bajwa last served at the GHQ as Inspector General of the Training and Evaluation, the position Gen Raheel Sharif held before becoming army chief.

• Bajwa, who was commissioned in the 16 Baloch Regiment in October 1980, is a graduate of Canadian Forces Command and Staff College in Canada, and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Qamar Javed Bajwa:

General Qamar Javed BajwaHI(M), is the Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army. Born in Ghakhar Mandi, Bajwa was commissioned in 1980 in the Baloch Regimen

Previously he served at the GHQ as the Inspector General of the Training and Evaluation from 2015 to 2016and as the Corps Commander X Corps from 2013 to 2015 which is responsible for the area along the Line of Control Bajwa also served as a peacekeeper in the UN mission in Congo as a brigade commander.