In a significant development, President Asif Ali Zardari awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) to National Strategic Command (NSC) Commander General Syed Amir Raza during a ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad. The event saw the presence of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, and the chiefs of the armed services on Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gillani, federal ministers, senior officials, and ambassadors from several countries also attended the prestigious occasion. Notably, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif elevated General Raza—formerly Chief of the General Staff—from Lieutenant General to the rank of Four-Star General and simultaneously appointed him to the newly created position of NSC Commander.
This post was established following the passage of the Pakistan Army, Air Force, and Navy (Amendment) Bills 2025 last year, which led to the abolition of the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) position. General Raza’s commission dates back to 1988 when he joined the 6 Lancers, a renowned armoured corps regiment.
He is an alumnus of the Command and Staff College Quetta, National Defence University Islamabad, and the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. Over the course of his career, General Raza has held numerous key command, staff, and instructional roles. These include brigade major of an infantry brigade, General Staff Officer Grade-2 at the Chief of General Staff Secretariat, Chief of Staff of a Strike Corps, Director General of the Weapons and Equipment Directorate, Chairman of Heavy Industries Taxila, and Chief of General Staff at General Headquarters Rawalpindi.
Additionally, he has commanded an armoured regiment, an armoured brigade, an infantry brigade in South Waziristan, an infantry division, and a corps stationed along the eastern border. His instructional contributions include serving on the faculty of the School of Armour and Mechanised Warfare and the Command and Staff College Quetta, where he held roles as directing staff, senior instructor, and chief instructor.
