General Karim was commissioned in the Indian Army in June 1954. He was a veteran of the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars; he commanded a Para Battalion during the 1971 India-Pakistan War in the Eastern theatre. In 1978, he assumed command of an infantry brigade in Kashmir on the Line of Control. In May 1984, he took over command of an infantry division under India's Southern Army Command, and was promoted to major general on 16 September.