Pakistan's prime minister on Saturday picked Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa to replace outgoing army chief Raheel Sharif, the popular military leader credited with improving security and driving back Islamist militant groups.
The army chief is arguably the most influential person in Pakistan, with the military having ruled the country for about half of its 69-year history since independence from Britain and enjoying extensive powers even under civilian administrations.
Bajwa will likely take charge of the world's sixth-largest army by troop numbers in a formal handover on Tuesday, when Sharif, who is no relation to prime minister Nawaz Sharif, formally retires.
The appointment of Bajwa is expected to help reset fraught relations between the military and the civilian government in a nuclear-armed nation of 190 million people.
Lieutenant General Zubair Hayat has been appointed chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee.
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