Rehearsals for COAS change of command ceremony in full swing at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi

Rehearsals were held at the General Headquarters here on Sunday for the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) change of command ceremony.

An ISPR statement on Twitter said that rehearsals are going on in full swing, and added that the final ceremony will be held on November 29.

The Pakistan government had yesterday announced Lt. Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa as the country's 16th Chief of Army Staff. He will take over from incumbent General Raheel Sharif, who superannuates on November 29.

Lt. Gen. Bajwa will take charge of the world's sixth-largest army in terms of troop numbers in a formal handover on Tuesday. Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed the news of Lt. Gen. Bajwa's appointment last evening. He also announced that Lt. Gen. Zubair Hayat will assume charge as the new Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff Committee (CJCSC).

Lt. Gen. Qamar Bajwa is from the Pakistan Military Academy's 62nd long course. Earlier he was the commander of the Rawalpindi Corps and is currently the Inspector General of Training and Evaluation at the General Headquarters. As a major general, he led the Force Command Northern Areas. He also served in the 10 Corps as lieutenant colonel. He also served with a UN mission in Congo as a brigade commander and commandant of the Infantry School in Quetta.

The new army chief has 36 years of service in the armed forces and spent a majority of his time in the army in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Northern Areas.

He has a reputation of being low key and well-connected with his troops. He was commissioned in the Baloch Regiment, which has given Pakistan three army chiefs -General Yahya Khan, General Mirza Aslam Beg and General Ashfaq Perviaz Kayani.