Admiral Sirohey, acting as military adviser to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, supported the government's decision to support the Soviet Union's withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. After Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto paid her first state visit to the United States, Admiral Sirohey caught between the political rivalry between President Ghulam Ishaq and Prime Minister Benazir. In 1989, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto controversially signed retirement papers and relieved him from the command of the military in order to bring up army chief General Beg in his place. This move was seen as a political move and Benazir Bhutto's attempt to control the military through army and loyalist officers and was said to be a direct attack on military by the political leader.