New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a meeting of the federal cabinet on Tuesday, during which the matter of appointing the Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) also came up, Geo News reported.
In recent days, Islamabad has been gripped with feverish speculation about the delay by the PMO in issuing a notification for the appointment of the incoming ISI DG, Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmad Anjum.
According to sources, the Pakistan PM took the cabinet members into confidence over the issue.
They said the premier told them that there have been attempts to give the matter a wrong spin by the media.
Imran Khan assured the cabinet that all the people concerned “are on the same page” and that the appointment will be finalised “amicably”.
Later in the day while addressing a post-cabinet press briefing in Islamabad, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Fawad Chaudhry, said that during the meeting, the issue of the appointment of the new Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence was also discussed.
Imran Khan and Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa have “ideal” civil-military relations and they both never take any steps that could “disrespect” each other, Chaudhry said, the Dawn reported.
The minister said the authority to appoint the ISI DG “lies with the Prime Minister”, and that the set procedure would be followed for the purpose.
“The legal procedure will be followed in the appointment of the new ISI DG, for which both (Gen Bajwa and Prime Minister Khan) are in agreement,” he said.
Chaudhry said that Imran Khan and the Army chief had met last night to discuss the matter.
It is important to recall that an alleged deadlock between civil and military leaderships is being reported on social media on the issue of the posting of ISI DG, Friday Times reported.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had issued a statement on October 6 announcing the new postings and transfers.
The posting of ISI DG is yet to be confirmed by the PM’s office. Insiders close to the developments say the delay in the confirmation of the new posting is a procedural matter, which could be resolved soon.
