# Chief of the Naval Staff (Pakistan)

The Chief of the Naval Staff (reporting name: CNS) is a military appointment and a statutory office held by a four-star rank admiral in the Pakistan Navy, who is nominated and appointed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and confirmed by the President of Pakistan.
The Chief of Naval Staff is one of the senior-most appointments in the Pakistan Armed Forces who is one of the senior members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in a separate capacity, providing senior consultation to the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to act as a principal military advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and its Government of Pakistan in the line of defending and safeguarding the expedition, maritime and sealine borders of the nation.$^{:86}$
The Chief of Naval Staff exercise its responsibility of command and control of the operational, combatant, logistics, administration, and training commands within the Pakistan Navy, in a clear contrast to the U.S. Navy's Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). Due to its responsibility and importance, the Chief of Naval Staff plays a critical role in assessing the coastal defence and conducting reconnaissance to insure its strike capability against aggressive forces.$^{:88}$
In principle, the appointment is constitutionally subjected for three years but extensions may be granted by the President upon recommendations and approvals from the Prime Minister. The Chief of Naval Staff is based on the Navy NHQ, and the current Chief of Naval Staff is Admiral Naveed Ashraf, who took over the command as chief of naval staff on 7 October 2023.

## History

The Pakistan Navy was created from the partition of the Royal Indian Navy after the India's partition on 14/15 August of 1947.$^{:90}$ Direct appointments in the navy was in the responsibility of the British Admiralty who appointed Rear Admiral James Wilfred Jefford as Pakistan Navy's first Flag Officer Commanding (FOC).$^{:47}$
The post was changed to Commander-in-Chief when Vice-Admiral Mohammad Siddiq Choudri became the first native naval commander in 1953, and the title changed from Commander in Chief to Chief of Staff in 1969 with Vice-Admiral Muzaffar Hassan acting as Commander-in-Chief and Rear-Admiral Rashid Ahmad as Chief of Staff.$^{:52}$ On 20 March 1972, the renamed as "Chief of Naval Staff" (CNS) with Vice-Admiral H.H. Ahmed becoming the first chief of naval staff, though his rank was not elevated to four-star rank.$^{:60–62}$
The term of the superannuation was then constrained to three years in the office as opposed to four years and was made a permanent member of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.$^{:62}$ Since 1972, there have been 14 four-star rank admirals appointed as chiefs of naval staff by statute. The Prime Minister, with the President's confirmation, approved the nomination and appointment of the Chief of Naval Staff.
The leadership of the navy is based in the Navy NHQ located in the vicinity of Air AHQ, and Army GHQ staff offices that form that JS HQ in the Rawalpindi District, Punjab, Pakistan. The CNS controls the navy, assisted by the civilians from the Navy Secretariat-III of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The Chief of Naval Staff exercises its responsibility of completing operational, training and logistics commands.$^{:92–93}$ The CNS has several principal staff officers and controls the navy through seven principle staff commands directed by its appointed Deputy Chiefs of Naval Staff.
* DCNS Operations
* DCNS Supply
* DCNS Training and Personal
* DCNS Projects
* DCNS Materials
* DCNS Administration
* DCNS Welfare and Housing

## List of Chiefs of the Naval Staff

The following is a list of Admirals who have served as either Commander-in-Chief or the Chief of the Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy.

### Naval Commanders-in-Chief, Royal Pakistan Navy (1947–1956) and Pakistan Navy (1956–1972)

| No. | Naval Commander-in-Chief | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
| 1 | Jefford, JamesRear admiral James Wilfred Jefford CB, CBE (1901–1980) as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Navy | 15 August 1947 | 30 January 1953 | 5 years, 168 days | Royal Navy |
| 2 | Choudri, HajiVice admiral Haji Mohammad Siddiq Choudri HPk, HI(M) MBE (1912–2004) | 31 January 1953 | 28 February 1959 | 6 years, 28 days | Pakistan Navy |
| 3 | Khan, AfzalVice admiral Afzal Rahman Khan HPk, HJ, HQA (1921–2005) | 1 March 1959 | 20 October 1966 | 7 years, 233 days | Pakistan Navy |
| 4 | Ahsan, SyedVice admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan HQA, SPk DSC (1920–1989) | 20 October 1966 | 31 August 1969 | 2 years, 315 days | Pakistan Navy |
| 5 | Hassan, MuzaffarVice admiral Muzaffar Hassan HQA, SPk, (1920–2012) | 1 September 1969 | 22 December 1971 | 2 years, 112 days | Pakistan Navy |

### Chiefs of the Naval Staff (CNS) of Pakistan Navy

| No. | Chief of Naval Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | Ahmed, HasanVice admiral Hasan Hafeez Ahmed TQA (1926–1975) | 3 March 1972 | 8 March 1975 † | 3 years, 5 days |
| 2 | Shariff, MohammadAdmiral Mohammad Shariff NI(M), HI(M), SI(M), HJ, SJ, SK (1920–2020) | 23 March 1975 | 21 March 1979 | 3 years, 363 days |
| 3 | Niazi, KaramatAdmiral Karamat Rahman Niazi NI(M), HI(M), SJ (1930–2021) | 22 March 1979 | 23 March 1983 | 4 years, 1 day |
| 4 | Khan, TariqAdmiral Tariq Kamal Khan NI(M), SI(M), SBt (1930–2008) | 23 March 1983 | 9 April 1986 | 3 years, 17 days |
| 5 | Sirohey, IftikharAdmiral Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey NI(M), HI(M), SI(M), SBt (1934–2025) | 9 April 1986 | 9 November 1988 | 2 years, 214 days |
| 6 | Malik, Yastur-ul-HaqAdmiral Yastur-ul-Haq Malik NI(M), SBt (1931–2024) | 10 November 1988 | 8 November 1991 | 2 years, 363 days |
| 7 | Khan, SaeedAdmiral Saeed Mohammad Khan NI(M), SBt (1935–2022) | 9 November 1991 | 9 November 1994 | 3 years |
| 8 | Haq, MansurulAdmiral Mansurul Haq NI(M) (1937–2018) | 10 November 1994 | 1 May 1997 | 2 years, 173 days |
| 9 | Bokhari, FasihAdmiral Fasih Bokhari NI(M), HI(M), SI(M), SBt, SJ (1942–2020) | 2 May 1997 | 2 October 1999 | 2 years, 153 days |
| 10 | Mirza, AbdulAdmiral Abdul Aziz Mirza NI(M), HI(M), SI(M), SBt (born 1943) | 2 October 1999 | 2 October 2002 | 3 years |
| 11 | Karimullah, ShahidAdmiral Shahid Karimullah NI(M), HI(M), SI(M), TI(M), SJ (born 1948) | 3 October 2002 | 6 October 2005 | 3 years, 4 days |
| 12 | Tahir, AfzalAdmiral Afzal Tahir NI(M), HI(M), SI(M) (born 1949) | 7 October 2005 | 7 October 2008 | 3 years |
| 13 | Bashir, NomanAdmiral Noman Bashir NI(M), HI(M), SI(M), TI(M) | 7 October 2008 | 7 October 2011 | 3 years |
| 14 | Sandila, AsifAdmiral Asif Sandila NI(M), HI(M) (born 1954) | 8 October 2011 | 3 October 2014 | 2 years, 360 days |
| 15 | Zakaullah, MuhammadAdmiral Muhammad Zakaullah NI(M), HI(M), SI(M), TI(M) (born 1958) | 4 October 2014 | 6 October 2017 | 3 years, 2 days |
| 16 | Abbasi, ZafarAdmiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi HI(M), SI(M) | 7 October 2017 | 7 October 2020 | 3 years |
| 17 | Niazi, AmjadAdmiral Amjad Khan Niazi | 7 October 2020 | 7 October 2023 | 3 years |
| 18 | Ashraf, NaveedAdmiral Naveed Ashraf | 7 October 2023 | Incumbent | 1 year, 151 days |