IndraStra Global, Features, July 7, 2015
Ramya P.S, Junior Research Fellow, ISSSP, NIAS
Considering the long spurts of Army rule in Pakistan, an understanding of the decision makers within this institution and specifically of its leaders becomes crucial. Zia-ul-Haq even to this day has been cited in moulding Pakistan’s Afghanistan and US policy following the Soviet intervention of Afghanistan in 1979. Pakistan’s first military leader Ayub Khan with the ‘devolution of power’ established the basis of military rule in the South Asian nation. In the modern context the influence of the Army can be analysed in the leadership of General Pervez Musharraf. In examining this claim, General Pervez Musharraf, as the former Army Chief and President of Pakistan, provides a significant exemplar. In this view, the article examines General Musharraf’s decision making during the Kargil conflict followed by the 1999 coup- to assess the “leadership quotient” in Pakistan.