In 1954, he was sent to the United Kingdom where he attended the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in England, graduated in geography course in 1956. In 1957, he did his further military training at in Portsmouth where he specialized as gunnery specialist, returned to Pakistan before being promoted as sub-lieutenant in the Navy in 1958. In 1964–65, Lt. Haq served in the second war with India, and was posted in East Pakistan after the war.