Tariq Majid General Tariq Majid , ( Urdu : طارق مجید ; born 23 August 1950 ; NI ( M ) , afwc , fsc ( m ) , psc ) is a retired four - star rank general officer in the Pakistan Army who held prestigious four - star assignment as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 2007 to 2010 , the principle and highest - ranking military officer in the Pakistan Armed Forces . Prior to this promotion , he was the field operational commander of X Corps , stationed in Rawalpindi . His other commanding staff assignments includes the Chief of General Staff ( CGS ) from 2003 – 06 and DG Military Intelligence ( DGMI ) from 2000 – 2003 , all premier staff commands of the Pakistan Army . He was succeeded as chairman joint chiefs by another four - star rank general officer General Khalid Shameem Wynne . Biography . Personal background . Tariq Majid was born on 23 August 1950 , in Lahore , Punjab Province of Pakistan . After graduating from high school in Lahore , Tariq Majid entered in the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul , in 1967 . He graduated with a Bachelor ' s degree from PMA in 1971 and commissioned in the Pakistan Army as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 28th LAT Battalion of the Baloch Regiment of Pakistan Army in April 1971 . After participating in the 1971 war , Majid went on to obtain Master in Joint warfare from the Command and Staff College in Quetta in 1982 . Professorship and academia . Apart from active military service , Majid has tenured as professor of military and strategic studies at the both military and civilian institutions . He taught and lectured courses on military science , defense and war studies , and military policy matters at the Department of Strategic and Defense Studies of the Quaid - e - Azam University in Islamabad . In 1985 , he was sent to attend the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College in Kuala Lumpur where he did specialization on staff courses . From 1985 and onward , Majid went to United States and joined the Asia - Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu , Hawaii , U . S . as a research associate . Majid also holds another master ' s degree in War studies from the National Defence University in Islamabad , which he was conferred in 1991 after submitting his thesis to the university board . After his studies , he assumed the full professorship of war studies at the National Defence University and also taught strategic studies course at the Quaid - i - Azam University . Military career . As a junior officer , Majid participated in the 1971 war and commanded a light anti - tank platoon against the Indian Army during the conflict . After the war , he would later on served in the academic institutions of Pakistan military on deputation . On promotion to the rank of Lieutenant - Colonel in January 1988 , he commanded the Infantry battalion in which he was originally commissioned ; in 1991 , he also commanded another Infantry battalion . On February 1994 , he was promoted to one star rank , Brigadier and commanded two Infantry Brigades as General Staff Officer - 1 ( GSO - 1 ) . On elevation to the two - star rank of Major - General in February 1999 , he was appointed General Officer Commanding of 10th Infantry Division , stationed at Lahore . Staff and command appointments . Tariq Majid served in the major staff and command appointments in the Pakistan military . Upon promoting to brigadier , he was appointed as the General Staff Officer Grade - 1 at the Directorate - General for Military Operations ( DGMO ) . During his military career , he accepted the professorship in the military institutions , and briefly taught courses on military tactics at the School ( SC & T ) , and topics in strategic studies at the Command and Staff College in Quetta . As a Brigadier , he was appointed Director Military Operations ( Plans ) in the Military Operations Directorate at General Headquarters and Deputy Commandant of Pakistan Military Academy . On April 2001 , he was appointed as director - general of Military Intelligence ( DGMI ) which he held until December 2003 . Chief of General Staff and Corps Commander . On 19 December 2003 , Major - General Tariq Majid ' s promotion on three - star rank , Lieutenant - General , and appointed to the post of Chief of General Staff , in place of Lieutenant - General Shahid Aziz , who proceeded as the corps commander Lahore . The post of chief of general staff is important in a sense that it heads the important military bureaus of Military Intelligence ( MI ) and Military Operations . Tariq Majid ' s stint as the X Corps commander was eventful as it featured the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and the following mass protests , and the Operation Silence . In the latter occasion , he took over the planning of the Red mosque operation that was done on the direct instructions of the ousted President Pervez Musharraf . According to media reports , the warnings of DGMO and MI were bypassed by President Musharraf and issued " direct " orders to commander of X Corps Lieutenant - General Tariq Majid . However , his critics made some allegations that Majid , being one of the confident , was thoroughly briefed of the Lal Masjid siege . Soon , he gained significant publicity from this event , and was soon predicted by the media and the analysts to be promoted to the four - star assignments of either vice chief of army staff or chairman joint chiefs . These predictions were true , when in October 2007 , he was made the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee . Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee . Upon General Musharraf ' s retirement , Majid ' s appointment to four star rank was highly speculated in the media and military science circles . As early as in August and the following month , Majid was initially in the race to be appointed as chief of army staff . In military science circles , Majid was known to be a professional soldier and though , his closeness to Musharraf become a liability in country ' s political science circles . On 3 October 2007 , the media in Pakistan announced that Lieutenant - General Tariq Majid was promoted to four - star rank , and his nomination to succeed general Ehsan - ul - Haq was already approved by President Musharraf . On 8 October 2007 , he was sworn as chairman joint chiefs and took over the operations of Joint Staff Headquarters ( JS HQ ) . Upon taking the JS HQ secretariat , Majid became the only officer from the Baloch Regiment after Rahimuddin Khan to ascend to chairman joint chiefs . At the time of promotion , Tariq Majid was fourth on the seniority list . Lieutenant Generals Khalid Kidwai , Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ( who was also promoted as four - star and made VCOAS ) , and Malik Arif Hayat were all senior to him , all of whom stood superseded and sought retirement . On race to the promotion to this four - star assignment , lieutenant - General Khalid Kidwai was already on a year ' s extension and another lieutenant - general Malik Arif Hayat had never commanded a corps thus virtually taking him out of the race for the top two slots in the army . Less than a two weeks of being chairman joint chiefs , a suicide attack was struck on Majid when a suicide bomber struck a police checkpoint in the high security zone of Rawalpindi on October 30 . It was carried out less than a kilometer from President General Pervez Musharraf ' s camp office , killing seven people , three of them policemen , and injuring 31 others . The blast splattered check post of General Tariq Majid ' s official residence . During the armed escalations with India , Majid served as the top military adviser to government and it was widely circulated that he , together with chiefs of navy , army and air force , had advised the president Asif Ali Zardari to take back his statement made last month , that his country would not be the first to use nuclear weapons in the event of a conflict with India " . Responding to the India ' s military movement at the India - Pakistan border in 2010 , General Majid told the Pakistan ' s media representatives at the ISPR that " the Indian army knows the capacity of the Pakistan armed forces . Responding to the Indian Army ' s Chief of Staff ' s statement of Indian military preparations to fight China and Pakistan simultaneously , Majid told the journalists that " leave alone China , General Deepak Kapoor knows very well what the Indian Army can not and Pakistan Armed Forces can pull off militarily . As chairman joint chiefs , Majid notably terminated all military debriefings of senior scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan and recognized his services done to the country publicly on first week of November 2008 . Earlier to this , Majid was known for welcoming dr . Qadeer Khan in the country ' s military science circles where Qadeer Khan was still welcomed . In 2010 , while lecturing on nuclear weapons politics , Majid endorsed Qadeer Khan ' s services and stressed to the fact that : " Pakistan had to be mindful of a blatant pursuit of military preponderance in its eastern neighborhood " . Lecturing at the National Defence University , General Majid argued that " a proposed fissile material cutoff treaty would target Pakistan specifically . Islamabad has refused to allow talks on such a pact to proceed at the International Conference on Disarmament . As chairman joint chiefs , Majid had asserted his role as principle military adviser to the government of Prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and President Asif Ali Zardari on the matters involving the nuclear policy , military affairs , and geostrategic positions of Pakistan . He presented the government a tri - services combat framework to tackle the joint combat operations against the extreme elements ; a plan which was duly approved by Prime minister Gillani as part of his war strategy . While presenting this plan Majid noted to Prime minister Gillani that there is a need to harmonize individual capacities of the services so that efforts are synergized within a framework of jointness and inter - operability to meet present and future challenges . He played a vital role in devising the government to change its foreign policy to neutral matters in Afghanistan , and to lessen the American influence in the country which had dismayed the civil society of the country . Views on nuclear disarmament . About the Afghan war , Majid is reported to have said , " Pakistan has become a " punching bag " in the American media , specifically the CNN . " In a secret conversation with American ambassador Anne W . Patterson General Majid added , " It got to the point where we are looking at our own contingencies . " Ambassador Patterson later replied that his statement was astonishing . In 2007 , Majid maintained to the country ' s media representatives , about the security of country ' s strategic nuclear arsenals that the nuclear and strategic assets are well protected with robust safeguards and very elaborate security system . Any irresponsible " act by any one against it will be responded very strongly at all levels of command " , Majid quoted . In a speech at the National Defence University and Quaid - i - Azam University , Majid outlines that atomic deterrence against a possible aggression was a compulsion , and not a choice for Pakistan . Majid exhorted to the world delegation at the NDU that , " World must accept Pakistan as nuclear power . " While dismissing all the concerns on the safety of country ' s nuclear arsenal , Majid maintains to the fact : " We are shouldering our responsibility with utmost vigilance and confidence . We have put in place a very robust regime that includes " multilayered mechanisms " and processes to secure our strategic assets , and have provided maximum transparency on our practices . We have reassured the international community on this issue over and over again and our track record since the time our atomic bomb programme was made overt has been unblemished " . Retirement . Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani send the nomination of General Shameem Wynne as next Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee on October 8 , 2010 . In the military circles , he well established his reputation as " pragmatic general " and " embodiment of professionalism thorough professional officer who sets and strives for high standards of excellence . " General Khalid Shameem Wynne who was the senior - most general serving as Chief of General Staff ( CGS ) at the GHQ . Before retiring , General Majid completed all of his farewell meetings with important and key political and military leadership . In a simple but dignified ceremony amid Guard of Honour , General Majid handed over the operations of joint staff secretariat to incoming General Khalid Shameem Wynne .