President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday conferred the Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) on General Aamer Raza, commander of the National Strategic Command, during an investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-i-Sadr, Islamabad.

On July 31, President Zardari approved the conferment of the Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) on Gen Raza.

According to state media, the ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the services chiefs, and senior military and government officials.

In July, he was promoted to the rank of a four-star general and appointed to the position of Commander of the National Strategic Command (CNSC), according to an announcement by PM Shehbaz.

The CNSC post was created under last year’s 27th Constitutional Amendment, which made significant changes to the military’s chain of command, to assume the nuclear manager role previously exercised by the Chai­rman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), a post which was abolished.

Gen Raza has previously been awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) and Sitara-i-Basalat (Star of Valour).

Before his elevation, he was serving as the chief of general staff — the army’s principal operational appointment — and oversaw the implementation of organisational changes necessitated by the 27th Amendment and the restructuring that followed last year’s conflict with India, including the establishment of the Army Rocket Force Command.

A cavalry officer from the Officers Training School (OTS) and commissioned into the 6th Lancers in 1988, he has commanded an armoured regiment, an armoured brigade, an infantry brigade in South Waziristan, an infantry division, and Lahore’s IV Corps.

He also headed Heavy Industries Taxila and served as the director general of Weapons and Equipment and the chief of staff at II Corps.

Gen Raza has, however, not served in the Strategic Plans Division, the Army Strategic Forces Command or the country’s strategic missile programme, with his career largely rooted in conventional operations and force development.