Asim Munir (general)

Asim Munir was born into a middle class Punjabi Muslim family, their roots lying in Jalandhar, now in Indian Punjab, from where his parents migrated.[7] They moved to Toba Tek Singh before settling down in Rawalpindi's Dheri Hassanabad, where they have been established for decades now. His late father, Syed Sarwar Munir, was the principal of the FG Technical High School, Rawalpindi. Munir has two siblings, Syed Qasim Munir and Syed Hashim Munir. One of his brothers is a government school teacher.

Asim Munir is a fitness enthusiast. He likes running, physical workout and sports. He is a keen book reader and traveller. Munir is fluent in Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi and English.[8]

Asim Munir graduated from the Fuji school, Japan, the Command and Staff College, Quetta, the Malaysian Armed Forces College, Kuala Lumpur and the National Defence University, Islamabad, where he earned his MPhil in Public Policy and Strategic Security Management.[6]

Asim Munir is from the 17th course of the Officers Training School in Mangla. He was commissioned in the 23rd Battalion of the Frontier Force Regiment. He started his military career in 25 April 1986.

As a Lieutenant Colonel, Asim Munir has served in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as part of close defence cooperation between Riyadh and Islamabad.[9] He has served at Siachin Glacier as well. Brigadier Asim Munir, earlier was serving as the Chief of Staff of Pakistan's I Strike Corps Mangla. He was promoted as a Major-general in 2014 served as the commander of the Troops deployed in the Northern Areas of Pakistan in 2014 as Force Commander North Areas (FCNA). Munir has also served as Director-General of Military Intelligence in 2016.[10] He was awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz in March 2018.[11] Asim Munir was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General in September 2018 and was subsequently appointed as DG ISI. In June 2019, Munir was replaced by Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed as the new DG ISI. Subsequently, Munir was appointed as Corps Commander of XXX Corps in Gujranwala in 2019.[12]From 2021 to November 2022, Lt-General Asim was posted at GHQ as Quartermaster General of Pakistan Army. In November 2022, Lt General Munir was promoted to the four-star General rank and was appointed as the Chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan Army. At the time of his appointment as COAS, Asim Munir was the senior most Lt.General of the Pakistan Army. In December 2022, General Asim Munir received the Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) award from President Arif Alvi. At the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the top military officials were given special investitures in front of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, diplomats, lawmakers, and federal ministers were present during the ceremony.[13]

General Asim Munir is the only recipient of Sword of Honour who has risen to the position of army chief in the military history of Pakistan. Besides, he is the only army chief in the history of Pakistan who has earlier served as chief of both premier military intelligence agencies of Pakistan, namely, Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence.[6]

General Asim Munir is the first Quartermaster General of Pakistan Army who has been elevated to the post of army chief. General Munir is also first army chief who is not from PMA but OTS, Mangla.

On his appointment as COAS the Al-Jazeera described Asim Munir as an officer with an “impeccable reputation”.While The Times of India declares him as a "tough guy" for his hawkish attitude.[14][15]