Chief of Naval Staff
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Flag of the Chief of the Naval Staff
Incumbent Admiral Naveed Ashraf since 7 October 2023
Ministry of Defence Navy Secretariat-III at MoD [1]
Abbreviation	CNS
Member of	Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee National Security Council
Reports to	Prime Minister of Pakistan Minister of Defence
Seat	Naval Headquarters (NHQ) Islamabad , Pakistan
Nominator	Prime Minister of Pakistan
Appointer	President of Pakistan
Term length	3 years Renewable only once
Precursor	Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Navy
Formation	3 March 1972 ; 52 years ago  ( 1972-03-03 )
First holder	Vice Admiral H. H. Ahmad
Succession	On basis of seniority, subjected to the decision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Unofficial names	Naval chief
Deputy	Vice Chief of the Naval Staff
Website	Official website

The Chief of the Naval Staff ( Urdu : ????? ???? ??? ????? , romanized :  Rais amlah pak bahriyah ; reporting name as CNS ), is a military appointment and a Statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the Pakistan Navy , who is nominated and appointed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and confirmed by the President of Pakistan . ^[2]

The Chief of Naval Staff is one of the senior-most appointments in the Pakistan military who is one of the senior members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in a separate capacity, providing senior consultation to the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to act as a principal military advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and its civilian government in the line of defending and safeguarding the expedition, maritime and sealine borders of the nation. ^{[3] : 86  [4]}

The Chief of Naval Staff exercise its responsibility of command and control of the operational, combatant, logistics, administration, and training commands within the Pakistan Navy , in a clear contrast to the U.S. Navy 's Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). Due to its responsibility and importance, the Chief of Naval Staff plays a critical role in assessing the coastal defence and conducting reconnaissance to insure its strike capability against aggressive forces. ^{[3] : 88  [5] [6]}

In principle, the appointment is constitutionally subjected for three years but extensions may be granted by the President upon recommendations and approvals from the Prime Minister. The Chief of Naval Staff is based on the Navy NHQ, and the current Chief of Naval Staff is Admiral Admiral Naveed Ashraf serving as chief of naval staff, who took over the command as chief of naval staff on 7 October 2023.

History [ edit ]

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The Pakistan Navy was created from the partition of the Royal Indian Navy after the India's partition on 14/15 August of 1947 . ^{[3] : 90} Direct appointments in the navy was in the responsibility of the British Admiralty who appointed Rear Admiral James Wilfred Jefford as Pakistan Navy's first Flag Officer Commanding (FOC). ^{[7] : 47}

The post was changed to Commander-in-Chief when Vice-Admiral Mohammad Siddiq Choudri became the first native naval commander in 1953, and the title changed from Commander in Chief to Chief of Staff in 1969 with Vice-Admiral Muzaffar Hassan acting as Commander-in-Chief and Rear-Admiral Rashid Ahmad as Chief of Staff. ^{[8] : 52} On 20 March 1972, the renamed as "Chief of Naval Staff" (CNS) with Vice-Admiral H.H. Ahmed becoming the first chief of naval staff, though his rank was not elevated to four-star rank. ^{[9] : 60?62  [10]}

The term of the superannuation was then constrained to three years in the office as opposed to four years and was made a permanent member of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee . ^{[9] : 62} Since 1972, there have been 14 four-star rank admirals appointed as chiefs of naval staff by statute. The Prime Minister, with the President's confirmation, approved the nomination and appointment of the Chief of Naval Staff. ^[11]

The leadership of the navy is based in the Navy NHQ located in the vicinity of Air AHQ , and Army GHQ staff offices that form that JS HQ in the Rawalpindi District , Punjab, Pakistan. ^[4] The CNS controls the navy, assisted by the civilians from the Navy Secretariat-III of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). ^[1]

The Chief of Naval Staff exercises its responsibility of completing operational, training and logistics commands. ^{[3] : 92?93} The CNS has several principal staff officers and controls the navy through seven principle staff commands directed by its appointed Deputy Chiefs of Naval Staff. ^[2]

• DCNS Operations
• DCNS Supply
• DCNS Training and Personal
• DCNS Projects
• DCNS Materials
• DCNS Administration
• DCNS Welfare and Housing

List of Chiefs of the Naval Staff [ edit ]

The following is a list of Admirals who have served as either Commander-in-Chief or the Chief of the Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy.

Naval Commanders-in-Chief, Royal Pakistan Navy (1947?1956) and Pakistan Navy (1956?1972) [ edit ]

No.	Portrait	Naval Commander-in-Chief	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch
1		Jefford, James Rear admiral James Wilfred Jefford CB , CBE (1901?1980) as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Navy	15 August 1947	30 January 1953	5 years, 168 days	Royal Navy
2		Choudri, Haji Vice admiral Haji Mohammad Siddiq Choudri HPk , HI(M) MBE (1912?2004)	31 January 1953	28 February 1959	6 years, 28 days	Pakistan Navy
3		Khan, Afzal Vice admiral Afzal Rahman Khan HPk , HJ , HQA (1921?2005)	1 March 1959	20 October 1966	7 years, 233 days	Pakistan Navy
4		Ahsan, Syed Vice admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan HQA , SPk DSC (1920?1989)	20 October 1966	31 August 1969	2 years, 315 days	Pakistan Navy
5		Hassan, Muzaffar Vice admiral Muzaffar Hassan HQA , SPk , (1920?2012)	1 September 1969	22 December 1971	2 years, 112 days	Pakistan Navy

Chiefs of the Naval Staff (CNS) of Pakistan Navy [ edit ]

No.	Portrait	Chief of Naval Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Ahmed, Hasan Vice admiral Hasan Hafeez Ahmed TQA (1926?1975)	3 March 1972	8 March 1975 †	3 years, 5 days
2		Shariff, Mohammad Admiral Mohammad Shariff NI(M) , HI(M) , SI(M) , HJ , SJ , SK (1920?2020)	23 March 1975	21 March 1979	3 years, 363 days
3		Niazi, Karamat Admiral Karamat Rahman Niazi NI(M) , HI(M) , SJ (??2021)	22 March 1979	23 March 1983	4 years, 1 day
4		Khan, Tariq Admiral Tariq Kamal Khan NI(M) , SI(M) , SBt (born 1930)	23 March 1983	9 April 1986	3 years, 17 days
5		Sirohey, Iftikhar Admiral Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey NI(M) , HI(M) , SI(M) , SBt (born 1934)	9 April 1986	9 November 1988	2 years, 214 days
6		Malik, Yastur-ul-Haq Admiral Yastur-ul-Haq Malik NI(M) , SBt (born 1933)	10 November 1988	8 November 1991	2 years, 363 days
7		Khan, Saeed Admiral Saeed Mohammad Khan NI(M) , SBt (1935?2022)	9 November 1991	9 November 1994	3 years
8		Haq, Mansurul Admiral Mansurul Haq NI(M) (1931?2018)	10 November 1994	1 May 1997	2 years, 173 days
9		Bokhari, Fasih Admiral Fasih Bokhari NI(M) , HI(M) , SI(M) , SBt , SJ (1942?2020)	2 May 1997	2 October 1999	2 years, 153 days
10		Mirza, Abdul Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza NI(M) , HI(M) , SI(M) , SBt (born 1943)	2 October 1999	2 October 2002	3 years
11		Karimullah, Shahid Admiral Shahid Karimullah NI(M) , HI(M) , SI(M) , TI(M) , SJ (born 1948)	3 October 2002	6 October 2005	3 years, 4 days
12		Tahir, Afzal Admiral Afzal Tahir NI(M) , HI(M) , SI(M) (born 1949)	7 October 2005	7 October 2008	3 years
13		Bashir, Noman Admiral Noman Bashir NI(M) , HI(M) , SI(M) , TI(M)	7 October 2008	7 October 2011	3 years
14		Sandila, Asif Admiral Asif Sandila NI(M) , HI(M) (born 1954)	8 October 2011	3 October 2014	2 years, 360 days
15		Zakaullah, Muhammad Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah NI(M) , HI(M) , SI(M) , TI(M) (born 1958)	4 October 2014	6 October 2017	3 years, 2 days
16		Abbasi, Zafar Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi HI(M) , SI(M)	7 October 2017	7 October 2020	3 years
17		Niazi, Amjad Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi	7 October 2020	7 October 2023	3 years
18		Ashraf, Naveed Admiral Naveed Ashraf	7 October 2023	Incumbent	263 days

See also [ edit ]

• Pakistan Navy
• Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (Pakistan)
• List of Pakistan Navy admirals
• Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (Pakistan)
• Chief of the Army Staff (Pakistan)
• Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan)
• Chief of the General Staff (Pakistan)

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Official website of Pakistan Navy