Bajwa's appointment will have no impact unless ties with India improve: Husain Haqqani

Pakistani diplomat-turned author Husain Haqqani on Sunday said the appointment of new Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa would have no impact unless the relationship between the two countries does not improve.

"Unless the tension between India and Pakistan does not improve, change of Army Chief will have no impact," he said.

"Pakistan has realised that it's also at loss due to terrorism, as terrorists who attack in Afghanistan and Kashmir, also attack in Pakistan," he added.

Describing Pakistan's new Army chief, former Indian Army Chief General Bikram Singh, under whom Bajwa had worked in UN force, said Bajwa was a "thorough professional" who gave an "outstanding performance" in the Congo mission, but things change once an officer goes back to his home country and India should wait and watch, and be "careful".

Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa has been appointed as Pakistan's 16th Chief of Army Staff (COAS), ending obscurity over the successor of Gen. Raheel Sharif, who is set to retire on November 29.

Meanwhile, General Zubair Mahmood Hayat has been appointed Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC).

Lt-Gen Bajwa has served as chief of the army's training and evaluation branch. Bajwa was commissioned in Pakistan Army's Sindh Regiment in 1982.

He has commanded the army's 10th Corps - Rawalpindi as Corps Commander. The army's 10th Corps is responsible to defend the country's frontiers at the Line of Control the Working Boundary along the border with India.

Bajwa, who belongs to the infantry's Baloch Regiment, has also held the position of Force Commander Gilgit-Baltistan as a Major General.

Husain Haqqani is known as an outspoken critic of the military. His book 'Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military' had detailed the military's relations with jihadi elements.