Pakistan's new NSA: Who is Muhammad Asim Malik?
Malik's appointment as the NSA comes amid soaring tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack
Pakistan has named the current Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Muhammad Asim Malik as the country’s new National Security Adviser (NSA). Lt General Malik has been tasked to assume the role of the NSA as an additional charge with immediate effect. He was appointed the Director General of ISI on 23 September 2024.
“Lt Gen Muhammad Asim Malik HI (M), DG (I), shall hold the additional charge of the National Security Adviser, with immediate effect,” stated a notification by the Pakistan government as quoted by Hindustan Times.
His appointment as the NSA comes amid soaring tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, which left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.
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Early life and education
A three-star General in the Pakistan Army, Lt General Malik was born into a Punjabi Awan family. He has ancestral roots in Shahpur, Sargodha district of Pakistan’s Punjab province, reported NDTV.
Son of a retired Lt Gen Ghulam Muhammad Malik, he joined the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA). After graduating from the PMA with flying colours, he was given the prestigious Sword of Honour. Malik was commissioned into the 12th Baloch Regiment in 1989, a regiment to which he remained affiliated for most part of his career.
After getting his BSC degree from the Balochistan University in 1999, Malik enrolled in the Fort Leavenworth in the US. He also studied at the Royal College of Defence Studies in the UK. He completed his PhD on the US-Pakistan relations from Pakistan’s National Defence University.
During his stint as a Brigadier, he headed an Infantry Brigade in the Waziristan region. He then became a Major General, leading the 41st Infantry Division in Balochistan. Malik has also held the post of the Chief Instructor at the National Defence University in Islamabad.
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Malik and Imran’s path to prison
Later in his career, he held the post of the Adjutant General at General Headquarters (GHQ). During this tenure, he oversaw the investigation in the case against former ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed. The investigation was widely considered a key part in the effort to send former Pakistani Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan to jail. Malik also supervised the investigation into the violent agitations after Imran was arrested on May 9, 2023.