President Zardari confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Strategic Command chief Gen Aamer Raza
By Sadaf Sundas Riaz
ISLAMABAD, — President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday conferred the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) on General Syed Aamer Raza, Pakistan’s first Commander of the National Strategic Command, formally honouring the four-star general weeks after he was selected to lead the country’s newly established strategic military command.
The decoration was presented during an investiture ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad, marking another significant step in the establishment of the new command structure overseeing some of Pakistan’s most sensitive strategic capabilities.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir attended the ceremony, along with senior civil and military officials.
Pakistan’s first National Strategic Command chief
Gen Raza was promoted from lieutenant general to four-star general last month and appointed the country’s first Commander National Strategic Command (CNSC).
Before his promotion, he served as Chief of the General Staff at General Headquarters, one of the Pakistan Army’s most influential appointments and a position closely involved in military operations and intelligence coordination.
Prime Minister Shehbaz announced Raza’s promotion and appointment on July 24 as Pakistan moved to establish the National Strategic Command as a new element of its higher defence architecture.
Raza subsequently assumed command and met Field Marshal Munir at GHQ, where he was presented a guard of honour.
Zardari had approved award last month
President Zardari approved the conferment of the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) on Raza on July 31, shortly after the general assumed his new position.
The President’s Secretariat announced at the time that the military decoration would be awarded to Raza in his capacity as Commander National Strategic Command.
Tuesday’s ceremony formally completed that process.
The Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) is among Pakistan’s highest military decorations and is awarded to senior armed forces officers for distinguished service.
A significant change in Pakistan’s command structure
Raza’s elevation carries significance beyond the award itself.
The creation of a dedicated National Strategic Command represents an important restructuring at the top of Pakistan’s military system.
The new four-star command is intended to provide senior-level coordination of strategic capabilities while operating within Pakistan’s broader national command structure.
That makes Raza one of a small number of four-star officers occupying the highest tier of Pakistan’s military leadership.
His previous experience as Chief of the General Staff also places an officer with extensive exposure to operational planning at the head of the new organization.
New command takes institutional shape
Since assuming office, Raza has begun establishing the command’s position within Pakistan’s wider defence hierarchy.
His first formal meeting with Field Marshal Munir after taking charge underscored the relationship between the newly created strategic command and the country’s senior military leadership.
The creation of the post, Raza’s elevation to four-star rank and Tuesday’s presidential investiture together signal that Islamabad is moving quickly to institutionalize the new command rather than treating it as a temporary wartime arrangement.
For Pakistan’s defence establishment, the appointment also represents a rare change at the highest level of the command structure: a new four-star office has been created specifically for the National Strategic Command, with Gen Aamer Raza becoming its inaugural commander.