Northern Light Infantry

Northern Light Infantry
Active	1998 - present
Country	Pakistan
Branch	Pakistan Army
Type	Light Infantry
Role	Mountain Warfare
Size	16 battalions
Regimental Centre	Bunji, Pakistan
Colors	Green
Engagements	Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 Pak-Indo War 1965 Pak-Indo War 1971 Siachen Conflict Kargil War
Commanders
Colonel Commandant of the NLI Regiment	Lt Gen Ikram-Ul-Haq (AK)

The Northern Light Infantry (reporting name: NLI) is a light infantry regiment in the Pakistan Army, based and currently headquartered in Gilgit, the capital of Gilgit–Baltistan. Along with many unified armed forces presence in the Northern Areas, the NLI has the primary ground operations responsibility of protecting the strategically important northern areas of Pakistan.

The origins and history of the NLI can be traced to the native Militia and Scouts units of yeoman infantry raised by the local rulers of Gilgit-Baltistan in the early 20th century, which were trained and funded by the British Indian Army. Later on, in 1924 the command and control of these militia and scouts units were taken over by the British Government and the officers were all seconded by the British Indian Army. The organisation and purpose of these units was the same as that of the other British led local paramilitary scouts and militias in mountainous frontier regions, such as the Zhob Militia, Chitral Scouts, Swat Levies, Cachar Levies, Eastern Frontier Rifles, Khyber Rifles, and Malakand Levies. The Gilgit Militia was the cousin unit of all these frontier borderguards-cum-local militia/scouts/paramilitary Police regiments. Their duties involved both conventional infantry scouting and skirmishing, as well as rural Policing and border guarding. In peace times these yeoman units usually acted as local Police and were analogous to the Armed Police of the British Indian provinces. In 1944, 2 of the Battalions' training and status was upgraded to that of Mountain Infantry.

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