Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee | |
---|---|
JCSC | |
Role | Advisory board providing professional military advice to the Minister of Defense and the President |
Established in practice | 1972 |
Predecessor entities | None |
Chairman | Gen. Zubair Mahmood Hayat |
Number of members | Seven |
Parent agency | Ministry of Defense |
Seat | Joint Staff HQ |
The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (Urdu: جوانٹ چيفس ﺁف اسٹاف كميٹى; JCSC), is an administrative body of senior high-ranking uniformed military leaders of the unified Pakistan Armed Forces who advises the civilian Government of Pakistan, National Security Council, Defence Minister, President and Prime minister of Pakistan on important military and non-military strategic matters. It is defined by statute, and consists of a Chairman, the military chiefs from Army, Navy and the Air Force: all four-star officers appointed by the President, on the advice of the Prime minister. The chairman is selected based on seniority and merit from the Chiefs of service of the three branches of the Pakistan Armed and Defense Services. Each service chief, outside of their Joint Chiefs of Staff obligations, performs their duty directly for the Ministry of Defence.
Following the Hamoodur Rahman Commission, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee does not have operational command authority. Instead, the Joint Chief of Staff Committee is a principal military advisory body, and coordinates command operations between the services. The Committee is headed by the four-star officer who is designated as the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC). The chairman is the de Jure Commander in chief of all services of the Pakistan Defense Forces, but he does not have operational authority over combatant forces, which report directly to their Chiefs of Staff.