Pakistan has appointed Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum as the new Director General (DG) of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The new ISI chief will assume office on November 20. Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, the incumbent ISI DG, will continue in his role till November 19.

The ISI chief designate is said to be a battle-hardened soldier. His subordinates call him the "man with glacier brain but sharp reflexes".

Who is Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum?

Lt Gen Anjum belongs to the Punjab Regiment of the Pakistan Army. He was commissioned in service in September 1988 and has served as the Inspector General of Frontier Corps Balochistan (FCB), a paramilitary force. During his stint at the FCB, he oversaw many terrorist operations. His 'exceptional' service towards eradicating terrorism also won him the title of 'Mohsin e Balochistan'.

He has served as Karachi Corps Commander and as the commandant of Command and Staff College, Quetta. Lt Gen Anjum held command postings at the Line of Control (LoC), the eastern border of Pakistan. He has the experience of commanding a brigade in Kurram Agency, which looks after Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

The succeeding ISI chief is also a well-read man. Lt Gen Anjum is a graduate from the Royal College of Defense Studies in the United Kingdom. He holds a degree from the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies, Honolulu.

He is a good listener and sharp observer who speaks concisely, his subordinates say.

Controversy around Lt Gen Anjum's appointment

It took more than three weeks for Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan to approve Lt Gen Anjum's appointment after the military announced his name as the new DG of the ISI.

On October 6, Pakistan's military had announced that Lt Gen Anjum will replace Lt Gen Faiz Hameed as the chief of the ISI, but the Prime Minister's Office didn't release an official notification to the effect, claiming that the civilian government was not properly consulted.

According to the tradition, the ISI chief is selected by Pakistan's Prime Minister in consultation with the military.

Pakistan PMO issued a notification concerning the appointment on Tuesday only after a key meeting at the ISI Secretariat. The meeting was attended by Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and PM Imran Khan.

The meeting is said to have ended with an alleged deadlock between Pakistan's civil government and its military, which has ruled the country for more than half of its existence, over the key post.

A week ago, Pakistan PM Imran Khan had promised his countrymen to ensure an exemplary rule of law where even a general would get promotion based on performance, in an apparent reference to the standoff with the military, which has always had considerable power in the matters of policymaking in the neighbouring country.