General Zubair Mahmood Hayat takes charge as Pakistan's new Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee

General Zubair Mahmood Hayat takes charge as Pakistan's new Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, ISLAMABAD: General Zubair Mahmood Hayat today took charge as Pakistan's new Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee at an official ceremony in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. The senior-most serving officer Zubair was promoted to the rank of four-star general on Saturday and

appointed as 17th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC). He replaced the outgoing chairman General Rashad Mehmood who completed his three-year tenure.

Zubair was presented with a guard of honour at a ceremony attended by all chiefs of staff, including outgoing army chief General Raheel Sharif.

Incoming army chief General Qamar Javad Bajwa was also present on the occasion. Bajwa will take over the command of the army tomorrow.

Theoretically, the CJCSC should to be the senior-most four-star officer from any of the three services (army, navy and air force), but as per tradition the post now goes to an army officer.

The CJSCS controls the key areas of nuclear command and strategic assets and plays an effective role in the security of the country.

The CJCSC is also the deputy chairman of National Command Authority (NCA) deployment committee, which is headed by the Prime Minister.

Zubair is from the artillery and was serving as Chief of General Staff (CGS) prior to taking over as CJCSC.

He previously served as director general of the Strategic Plans Division (SPD), which is the secretariat of the NCA.

He also commanded corps in Bahawalpur near Indian border.

Zubair comes from a military family and his father retired as a major general, while two of his brothers Lt General Omar Hayat and Major General Ahmad Mahmood Hayat are respectively serving as Pakistan Ordnance Factories Wah Chairman and Inter-Services Intelligence Director General.