| Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee | |
|---|---|
| JCSC | |
 Flag of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | |
| Role | Advisory board providing professional military advice to theMinister of Defense and thePresident or thePrime Minister |
| Established | 1972 |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Pakistan |
| Predecessor entities | none |
| Number of members | Four (Permanent) |
| Administration | |
| Seat | Joint Staff, HQ |
| Abolished | 10 November 2025 |
| Pakistan Armed Forces |
|---|
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| Ministry |
| Staff |
| Military services |
| Command structure |
Unified combatant commands
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TheJoint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), (Urdu:ہیئتِ مشترکہَ رؤسائے افواجِ پاکستان); was an administrative body of senior high-ranking uniformed military leaders of the unifiedPakistan Armed Forces who advised the civiliangovernment of Pakistan,National Security Council,Defence minister,president andprime minister of Pakistan on important military and non-military strategic matters.[1] It is defined by statute, and consisted of achairman, the military chiefs fromArmy,Navy and theAir Force: allfour-star officers appointed by the president, on the advice of the prime minister. The chairman was selected based on seniority and merit from the chiefs of service of the three branches of the Pakistan Armed and Defense Services. Each service chief, outside their Joint Chiefs of Staff obligations, performed their duty directly for theministry of Defence.[2]
Following theHamoodur Rahman Commission, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee di not had operational command authority. Instead, the Joint Chief of Staff Committee was a principal military advisory body, and coordinates command operations between the services.[3] The committee is headed by thefour-star officer who is designated as theChairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC).[3] The chairman was thede Jure Commander in chief of all services of the Pakistan Armed Forces, but he does not have operational authority over combatant forces, which report directly to their Chiefs of Staff.[2]
TheJoint Staff, was headquartered inRawalpindi near the vicinity ofNaval,Air,GHQ headquarters.[4] The Joint Chief of Staff Committee is composed of all uniformed military personnel from each inter-service, who assist the chairman to coordinate military efforts.
In early 1950s, the recommendations were sent to thegovernment of establishing the joint staff committee, but it was resisted by theNavy as it feared that it would be dominated by thearmy.[5] As themilitary ofPakistan grew in size and political influence increased after the1965 war withIndia.[6] Though, the joint coordination mechanism was felt but no steps were taken.
Martial law was proclaimed all over in Pakistan for the second time on March 25, 1969, to curb civil disobedience which was especially chronic inEast Pakistan. The number of army personnel in the Eastern region was increased in the beginning of 1971 fearing a possible Indian intervention.
As thecrisis inEast Pakistan progressed, following theintervention byIndia, the top military brass had the full control of the military and state's affairs.[7] In the absence of the joint staff mechanism, the defence plans and executions of operations were oversaw by each inter-service which affected the overall performance of the armed forces. Coordination between each inter-service became increasingly difficult.[8][7] In a thesis written by Pervez Cheema, the1971 war was fought "without a purpose and with total lack of coordination between the civil effort and the armed forces, and between four fighting services: theArmy,Navy andAir Force."[7] Furthermore, the federal studies also noted that the top military brass had alienated theArmy,Navy andAir Force. in which, none weren't taken in confidence, and the joint efforts were unsupported at either a planning or operational level, and were also constrained over disagreements during theIndo-Pakistani War of 1971.[8] Due to lack of complete and comprehensive communication, each services blamed the others for operational failures.[8]
Assurrendered toIndia in 1971,Prime ministerZulfikar Ali Bhutto formed a federalcommission chaired byChief JusticeHamoodur Rahman to conduct federal studies on the failure of thecivil-military relations.[9] Recommendations noted in "Higher Direction of War act" in theHRC report, it strongly called for the establishment of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) mechanism withheadquartered inMoD.[9] Per the act, the JCSC composed of a chairman, theChief of Naval Staff, theChief of Army Staff, and theChief of Air Staff. It was mandate to have a collective responsibility of national defence and mechanism of plans based on a joint objectives.[9] The chairmanship was to be rotated between each inter-services, irrespective of the personal ranks in each service.[9]
Lesson learns andrecommendations after the1971 war withIndia, all military work, combat coordination, and joint missions are overseen by the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee at theJoint Staff Headquarters located inRawalpindi,Punjab, Pakistan.[7] All studies were accepted in March 1976, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee was officially formed witharmy generalMuhammad Shariff becoming its firstChairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.[9] It is headed by a four-star officer designated as chairman.[10] As of 2011[update], there had been fourteen four-star Pakistan military officers who headed the Committee Secretariat. Altogether, there has been twelve were from the army, one from the Air Force, and two from the Navy have served.[3]
The headquarters are known as Joint Staff Headquarters and act as secretariat of JCSC. It is located at Chaklala, Rawalpindi.[10] As of 2022[update], GeneralSahir Shamshad Mirza is serving as the Chairman. The federal studies were fully supported by the military and many of the recommendations were implemented in 1980s to improve the joint efforts.[7]
Military failure inBangladesh andwar with India in 1971, the federal studies oncivil military relations led by theCommission byChief JusticeHamoodur Rahman helped establishing the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to coordinate the joint missions and executions of their work altogether during operations.[7][11][better source needed]
TheChairmanship of Joint Chiefs rotates among the three Inter-Services; theChairman joint chiefs is appointed by thePrime minister and confirmed by thePresident.[7] TheChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee outranks all other four-star officers; however, he does not have operational command authority over the Armed Forces.[12] In his capacity as chief military adviser, he assists the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense in exercising their command functions.[12]
Technically, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee is the highest military body; and itsChairman joint chiefs serves as the Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to the civilianPrime Minister,Cabinet,National Security Council (its adviser), and thePresident.[7] The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee deals with joint military planning, joint training, integrated joint logistics, and provides strategic directions of the armed forces. Reviews periodically the role, size, and shape of three Inter–Services, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee advise thecivilian government on strategic communications, industrial mobilizations plans, and formulating the defence plans.[7] In many ways, the JCSC provides an important link to understand, maintain balance, and resolve conflicts in thecivil military relations between military andpolitical circles.[7] In times of peace, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee's principal functions are to conduct planning of civil–military input; in times of war, theChairman acts as principal military adviser to thePrime Minister in the supervision and conduct ofjoint warfare.[12]
| Top Officials of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position insignia | Position | Photo | Incumbent | Service branch | In Office Since |
| Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) |  | General Sahir Shamshad Mirza  |  Pakistan Army | 27 November 2022 |
.svg) | Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) | .jpg) | Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah  | Pakistan Army | 29 November 2022 |
 | Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) | _at_Naval_Station_Mayport.jpg) | Admiral Naveed Ashraf |  Pakistan Navy | 07 October 2023 |
 | Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) |  | Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu | .png){kind=logo} Pakistan Air Force | 19 March 2021 |
| Other officials of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Inter–Service appointments | Officials | Inter–Service branches | Tenure |
| DG Joint Staff | Lt. General Ahsan Gulrez |  Pakistan Army | December 2022 |
| DGSPD | Lt. General Yusuf Jamal | Pakistan Army | December 2022 |
| Engineer-in-Chief | Lt. General Kashif Nazir | Pakistan Army | December 2022 |
| DGISPR | Maj. GeneralAhmed Sharif Chaudhry | Pakistan Army | December 2022 |
| DGISI | Lt. GeneralNadeem Anjum | Pakistan Army | November 2021 |
| DG Joint Warfare & Training | Rear Admiral Abdul Basit Butt |  Pakistan Navy | January 2021 |
| DG Joint Logistics | AVM Syed Imran Majid Ali |  Pakistan Air Force | September 2020 |
| DG Joint Operations | AVM Shahid Mansoor Jahangiri | Pakistan Air Force | September 2020 |
| DG Joint Foreign Military Cooperation | Maj.General Majid Jahangir | Pakistan Army | September 2020 |
| DG Joint Cantonment, Gwadar | AVM Nasser ul Haq Wyne | Pakistan Air Force | September 2019 |
| DG Joint Information and Intelligence Operations | Maj. General Waseem Iftikhar Cheema | Pakistan Army | April 2019 |
| DG Operations and Planning | Maj. General Muhammad Ishaq Khattak | Pakistan Army | April 2019 |
| CommandantMarines, Commander Coastal Areas | Vice Admiral Raja Rab Nawaz | Pakistan Navy | 16 October 2014 |
| Command | Current Commander | Inter–Service branch |
|---|---|---|
| Army Strategic Forces Command | Lieutenant General Muhammad Ali | Pakistan Army |
| Naval Strategic Forces Command | Rear Admiral Abdul Samad | Pakistan Navy |
| Air Force Strategic Command | AVM Tariq Zia | Pakistan Air Force |
The office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee has been abolished following the enactment of the Constitution (Twenty-seventh Amendment) Act, 2025. The responsibilities of the office are now merged under the Chief of Defence Forces, who concurrently serves as the Chief of Army Staff.
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