Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan) in the context of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Pakistan

The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referred to as Operation Vijay (Sanskrit: विजय, lit. 'Victory'), which was the codename of the Indian military operation in the region. The Indian Air Force acted jointly with the Indian Army to flush out the Pakistan Army and paramilitary troops from vacated Indian positions along the LoC, in what was designated as Operation Safed Sagar (Hindi: ऑपरेशन सफेद सागर, lit. 'White Sea').

The conflict was triggered by the infiltration of Pakistani troops—disguised as Kashmiri militants—into strategic positions on the Indian side of the LoC, which serves as the de facto border between the two countries in the disputed region of Kashmir. During its initial stages, Pakistan blamed the fighting entirely on independent Kashmiri insurgents, but documents left behind by casualties and later statements by Pakistan's Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff showed the involvement of Pakistani paramilitary forces, led by General Ashraf Rashid. The Indian Army, later supported by the Indian Air Force, recaptured a majority of the positions on the Indian side of the LoC; facing international diplomatic opposition, Pakistani forces withdrew from all remaining Indian positions along the LoC.

The Pakistan Day Parade, also known as the National Day Joint Services Parade, is an annual event held at Shakarparian in Islamabad to commemorate the Pakistan Day, marking the anniversary of the 1940 Lahore Resolution. The parade is presided over by the President of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, alongside the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, and the Chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Foreign dignitaries often attend as special guests. The event is organised by Joint Staff Headquarters and showcases the country's military strength and national unity.

Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani politician and a military officer who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. He overthrew Nawaz Sharif's government in the 1999 coup d'état and proclaimed himself the chief executive of Pakistan, under martial law.

Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as the chief of Army Staff and, later, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1998. He was the leading architect of the Kargil War between India and Pakistan in 1999. When prime minister Nawaz unsuccessfully attempted to dismiss general Musharraf, after the war, from his command assignments, the Army GHQ took over the control of the civilian government, which allowed him to control the military and the civilian government.

The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) (Urdu: انٹر سروسز انٹیلی جنس) is the military intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing information from around the world that is deemed relevant to Pakistan's national security. The main objective of the ISI is to integrate the Pakistan Armed Forces during wartime with real-time intelligence and support. The ISI reports to its agency executive and is primarily focused on providing intelligence to the Government of Pakistan and the Pakistan Armed Forces. It is part of the Pakistan Intelligence Community.

The ISI primarily consists of serving military officers drawn on secondment from the three service branches of the Pakistan Armed Forces: the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy, and Pakistan Air Force, hence the name "Inter-Services"; the agency also recruits civilians. Since 1971, it has been formally headed by a serving three-star general of the Pakistan Army, who is appointed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan in consultation with the Chief of Army Staff, who recommends three officers for the position. As of 30 September 2024, the ISI is headed by Lt. Gen. Asim Malik. The Director-General reports directly to both the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff.

The Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) was Pakistan's highest-ranking and senior most uniformed military officer, from 1976 to 2025, typically at four-star rank. The post was abolished under the 27th Constitutional Amendment in November 2025 and its functions were transferred to the newly created Chief of Defence Forces. The chairman served as the senior uniformed adviser to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the President of Pakistan, and the National Security Council of Pakistan. The office directed inter-service coordination, joint strategic planning, capability development, and oversight of tri-service institutions including the Strategic Plans Division. Operational command remained with the individual service chiefs. The chairman led the meetings and coordinated the combined efforts of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), comprising the chairman, the chief of the Army Staff, the chief of the Air Staff, the chief of the Naval Staff, the commandant of the marines, the director general of the Coast Guards and the Strategic Plans Division, and the commanders of the service branches in the Civil Armed Forces and the National Guard.

Even as the principal staff officer (PSO), the chairman did not have any authority over the command of the combatant forces. The individual service chiefs were solely responsible for the coordination and logistics of the armed and combatant forces. Due to this constraint, the chiefs of the army, navy and air force remained in effective command and control of their respective commands.