Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum's term had been extended to preserve continuity of policy for security benefit and defending the extension saying, ‘there’s nothing unusual and abnormal about it’.
Answering a question Kakar said: “Try to understand the point on continuity [of policy]. Any system prefers and supports the idea of continuity,” Kakar told Arab News in an interview.
“You want to have a continuation of the process, and for you, the continuation of that process is important so that idea or practice or brand gets entrenched,” the PM argued.
“So, in that context at times in many institutions, you do feel, or the political dispensation feels, that some individual has to continue for any security benefit or otherwise, and they [the state] have got the discretion to do that [grant extension]. There’s nothing unusual and abnormal about it,” he added.
The top spy chief was due to retire late this month but will remain in office. It is pertinent to note that the Pakistan Army has not yet announced the ISI director general’s extension formally.
