ISI chief Asim Malik appointed Pakistan’s National Security Advisor amid tensions with India
Updated: May 1st, 2025
Pakistan has appointed Lieutenant General Mohammad Asim Malik, the current Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, as its National Security Advisor (NSA) amid heightened tensions with India following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 28 people.
According to reports, the appointment was confirmed through an official notification and is being viewed as a significant move in Pakistan’s security and succession strategy, with Malik due to retire in October 2025.
This move makes Asim Malik the second most powerful DG I after Akhtar Abdur Rahman Khan (DG I and Security Advisor to then-Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq).
The decision comes as India holds high-level security meetings in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, reportedly carried out by The Resistance Front, a proxy of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba group.
Although TRF initially claimed responsibility, it later withdrew the statement—allegedly under pressure from Pakistan’s defence establishment.
Ever since the attack at the Baisaran meadow, Indian retaliation has been feared. Amid the tensions, Pakistan’s leadership has issued multiple warnings.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X about ‘credible intelligence’ suggesting an Indian strike, while Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told media that Islamabad would only consider nuclear action if its existence was directly threatened.
India, meanwhile, has taken several diplomatic and military steps, including suspending the Indus Waters Treaty and closing the Attari-Wagah border, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowing to ‘pursue’ the perpetrators and their backers ‘to the ends of the earth’.
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