Ehsan ul Haq

General Ehsan ul Haq NI(M), HI(M) (; born 22 September 1949), is a retired four-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army and a public official, served as the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, appointed in October 2005 until his retirement in 2007.

After retiring from his 40 years of military service, Ehsan ul Haq engaged in the corporate sector where he managed the businesses in the healthcare industry, and often offers his public speaking skills on the issues of foreign policy of Pakistan concerning the Arab League. He was educated at the PAF Public School in Sargodha, a school under the administration of the Air Force Education Command, and matriculated in 1967.

After the war with India in 1971, he went to attend the National Defence University in Islamabad where he attained MSc in War Studies in 1977. In addition, Ehsan also went to attend the Command and Staff College in Quetta in 1977 where he was qualified as psc in 1980. 2nd-Lt. Ehsan was commissioned in the Army Air Defence Command, and serving in the Western front of the third war with India in 1971.

War and command appointments in the military In 1977, Major Ehsan was posted with the Pakistan Armed Forces-Middle East Command where he first served as an instructor to the Iranian Air Force as an exchange officer until 1980.

After the military takeover of the civilian government in 1999, Maj-Gen Ehsan was appointed as the Director-General of the Military Intelligence (DGMI) and took the command of the MI from then Maj-Gen Jamshed Gulzar Kiani, remaining in this position until April 2001.

In April 2001, Lieutenant-General Ehsan was posted as the field commander of the XI Corps stationed in Peshawar but remained in this command capacity until October 2001.

DG-ISI (2001–04)

On 7 October 2001, Lt-Gen. Ehsan was surprisingly appointed as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI) as part of a major reshuffle that took place when President Pervez Musharraf went to dismissed his key army generals involved in the military takeover in 1999.

Political engineering and controlled democracy Furthermore, he was described as "keenly aware of big picture issues with viewing of strong support for the democracy, advocating that Pakistan needs a legitimate civilian democratic government" and "open with American officials". He played a crucial role in apprehending of the Omar Sheikh, a British terrorist and former MI-6 agent, from Karachi in 2002, and knew well aware of his status as the MI-6 agent as early as 1999.

He played a crucial role in dividing the two mainstream parties, the PML(N) being split towards the PML(Q) while the PPP forming the parliamentarians under Amin Fahim to fight off the pressure exerted by Lt-Gen. Ehsan.

Chairman joint chiefs (2004–07)

Appointment controversy and violence North-West Pakistan As Chairman joint chiefs, he oversaw the troops deployment in tribal areas to end the violence and supported his plan and strategy to gain public support despite the reluctance from the United States in 2006. However, in 2007, Gen. Ehsan openly admitted when he testified his failure to end the violence and expulsion of Central Asian and Afghan Arabs in the country noting that, "the al-Qaeda and the Taliban militants used the 2006 peace agreement to regroup and carry out terrorist attacks in both Pakistan and Afghanistan." He has also contributed to military doctrine discussions and policy briefings post-retirement, including closed-door consultations and white papers related to national security.

Gulf geopolitics In 2017, Ehsan vehemently criticized the Nawaz administration over its strict neutrality, calling for supporting the military intervention by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in the Yemeni Civil War.

Awards and decorations

Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military)

(Order of Excellence)Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military)

(Crescent of Excellence)Sitara-e-Harb 1971 War (War Star 1971)Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War (War Medal 1971)Tamgha-e-Baqa (Nuclear Test Medal)

1998Tamgha-e-Istaqlal Pakistan (Escalation with India Medal)

Wiladat-e-Quaid-e-Azam

(100th Birth Anniversary of

Muhammad Ali Jinnah)Hijri Tamgha (Hijri Medal)

1979Jamhuriat Tamgha (Democracy Medal)

1988Qarardad-e-Pakistan Tamgha (Resolution Day Golden Jubilee Medal)

1990Tamgha-e-Salgirah Pakistan (Independence Day Golden Jubilee Medal)

1997Command and Staff College Quetta Centenary Student's Medal

2007Order of King Abdul Aziz (Class I) (Saudi Arabia)Legion of Honour Officer Class (France)

2006

Foreign decorations Foreign AwardsOrder of King Abdul Aziz (Class I)Légion d'honneur