Parvaiz Mehdi Qureshi

Parvaiz Mehdi Qureshi (born 1 October 1943) best known as PQ Mehdi, is a retired four-star air officer and former fighter pilot who served as the eighth Chief of Air Staff (CAS) of the Pakistan Air Force from 1997 until his retirement in 2000.

His tenure in command of the Pakistan Air Force is notable for the events involving the short-lived military conflict with the Indian Army in Kargil in 1999. He is credited with advising Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif against all-out war with India, eventually providing an exit for the Pakistan Army to deescalate the situation through diplomacy with India.

Early life Parvaiz Mehdi Qureshi was born in Phalia, Punjab, into a Punjabi family on 1 October 1943.

Military career After graduating from Govt Pilot Secondary School Phalia, Mehdi joined the Pakistan Air Force in 1961, and shared a room with subsequent army chief General Musharraf and future Pakistan Navy chief Aziz Mirza, who became his lifelong friends.

After their interview with the local commandants, Mehdi, Musharraf, and Mirza went to see the acclaimed Urdu movie Savera (lit. Dawn).

After being commissioned and assigned to No. 16 Squadron Black Panthers as a pilot officer, he qualified as a fighter pilot, flying the F-86 Sabre jet.

Wars with India

F-86 in flight: Flight Lieutenant Mehdi was shot down by an Indian Folland Gnat while flying a F-86 in 1971. In 1965, Pilot Officer Mehdi participated in close air support combat operations during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, where he flew his Sabre against Indian Folland Gnats. In 1970, Mehdi took over the command of a flight of the squadron, stationed at Dacca airbase. In 1971, Mehdi participated in the air operations in East Pakistan against the Indian Army and the insurgent group it supported, Mukti Bahini. He was flying with a finger-four formation of the ground attack/bomber unit near the town of Garibpur, when his F-86 Sabre was shot down by a Folland Gnat piloted by Fg Off Donald Lazarus of 22 Squadron IAF. His wingman, F/Off Khalil Ahmad also suffered a similar fate, and was captured by Indian troops. Flight Lieutenant Mehdi parachuted down to 50 yards behind the Chaugachha Upazila, where he was captured by Indian Army soldiers; he was physically attacked by the soldiers before being rescued by Captain H. S. Panag, the Indian Army section commander. Upon watching the news, President Yahya Khan imposed the state of emergency and ordered the military for the preparation of war with India on 23 November 1971.

Repatriation and command appointments

The Delhi Agreement, signed by the Governments of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, made it possible for POWs to be repatriated to Pakistan from India in 1973–75. Upon his return, Mehdi was directed to attend the war course at the Air War College, where he earned a master's degree in War studies in 1976. In 1977, Squadron-Leader, Mehdi served to join the faculty of the Combat Commanders School (CCS), a TOPGUN training school, which he remained associated with several years. In 1981–83, Group-Captain Mehdi was appointed as the base commander of Sargodha AFB.

In 1991–93, Air-Commodore Mehdi was appointed air officer commanding of the Southern Air Command, based in Sindh, Pakistan, and was promoted to two-star rank, and transferred to command the Northern Air Command.

Chief of Air Staff

On 7 November 1997, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved the promotion of Mehdi to four-star rank, air chief marshal, and Medhi subsequently took over command of the Pakistan Air Force as its Chief of Air Staff (CAS) on 8 November 1997. As air chief, Mehdi played a crucial role in expanding the educational scope of the Air War College in Karachi, and backed up the military's plan for enhancing communications capabilities between the branches of the Pakistani military. Gen. Mehdi issued directives to the F-16s belonging to No. 11 Squadron Arrows to escort the C-130H strategically airlifting six-to-seven nuclear device to the weapon-testing sites in Balochistan, Pakistan. Mehdi did not comment or offer any opinion when Prime Minister Sharif relieved the military commission of then-Chairman Joint chiefs General Jehangir Karamat in 1998. His retirement was eventually confirmed when a junior-most air force general was promoted succeed him, leading to speculations that "PQ Mehdi's rather straight-faced and forthright dealings with a somewhat junior-general Pervez Musharraf (although both graduated with same class) particularly during Kargil conflict was a good reason to believe that the general decided to appoint a not-very-senior air chief marshal whom he could order around like one of his Corps Commanders."

Therefore, General Musharraf favoured superseding five senior air force generals and appointed a sixth-in-line to the four-star rank once Mehdi was due for retirement.

Awards and decorations

(Military)

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

(Crescent of Excellence)Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military)

(Star of Excellence)Sitara-e-Basalat (Star of Valour)Sitara-e-Harb 1965 War (War Star 1965)Sitara-e-Harb 1971 War (War Star 1971)Tamgha-e-Jang 1965 War (War Medal 1965)Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War (War Medal 1971)Tamgha-e-Baqa (Nuclear Test Medal)

(100th Birth Anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah)

1976Hijri Tamgha (Hijri Medal)

1979Tamgha-e-Jamhuriat (Democracy Medal)

1988Qarardad-e-Pakistan Tamgha (Resolution Day

Golden Jubilee Medal)

1990Tamgha-e-Salgirah Pakistan (Independence Day

Golden Jubilee Medal)

1997Turkish Legion of Merit (Turkey)

Foreign decorations Foreign AwardsTurkish Legion of Merit