Rashid Qureshi | |
---|---|
Birth name | Rashid Qureshi |
Allegiance | Pakistan |
Service/branch | Pakistan Army |
Years of service | 1971–2003 |
Rank | Major-General |
Commands held | DG Inter Services Public Relations |
Battles/wars |
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Siachen conflict Kargil War 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff |
Awards |
Sitara-i-Imtiaz (military) Sitara-e-Basalat |
Other work | Presidential Spokesperson |
Major General Rashid Qureshi, SI(M), SBt, is a retired two-star general, and the close aide of former President General Pervez Musharraf. He is the current spokesman of Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League.
Qureshi was given commissioned in the Pakistan Army on 17 April 1971 in the 44th PMA Long Course. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he was stationed at the Lahore Sector. After the war, Qureshi's company was stationed at the Rawalpindi sector where he became a staff officer at the General Headquarters (GHQ). In 1987, he was promoted as Lieutenant Colonel, and was made Officer commanding of the 10th Battalion. In 1991, he became Colonel in the Army, and was made Military secretary at the Joint Chief of Staff Committee Secretariat.
In 1996, Qureshi joined the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). In 1997, he was promoted as one-star general (brigadier-general) in the Army. In 1998, he was made director-general of the ISPR. His tenure saw many mile-stone in the history of Pakistan. On May 1998, Pakistan tested its fissionable devices at Ras Koh Hills, codenamed Chagai-I, and Chagai-II respectively.
He was also a principle military spokesperson of General Pervez Musharraf regime. His term as DG ISPR saw the Kargil War, Atlantique Incident, and the 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff. He came into public limelight when he first held a public conference on August 1999, where he briefed the media on Pakistan version of Atlantique Incident of 1999.