From an Indian point of view, an important change outside the ISI is Lt Gen Tahir Mehmood moving in as Commander 10 Corps in Rawalpindi which is responsible for areas opposite Jammu and Kashmir, including the Gilgit region. He had played an important role in the planning of the Kargil operation and his appointment, sources said, strongly indicates a continuum in the Army’s Kashmir policy.

Similarly in the ISI, Maj Gen Ghulam Mustafa Kausar, the DDG looking after Kashmir affairs is untouched by the change. He is an officer from the Azad Kashmir regiment and was earlier GOC of Lahore-based 10 Infantry Division but has been in the ISI for last few years.

Other key changes in the process:

• Lt Gen Ayaz Salim Rana: He is number three in ISI hierarchy, but has now been handed out transfer orders to move as chairman, Heavy Industries, Taxila.

• Lt Gen Muhammad Mustafa Khan: Fourth in hierarchy, but a close aide of Gen Kayani. He now moves on promotion as Chief of General Staff in Pakistan’s Army Headquarters known as GHQ. Along with DG ISI, he would be a key member of Kayani’s inner circle. Interestingly, he replaces Lt Gen Salahuddin Satti, a close Musharraf aide who was the commander of 111 Infantry Brigade in Rawalpindi at the time of the 1999 coup and moved first to take over key buildings in Islamabad.

• Maj Gen Mumtaz Ahmed Bajwa: He has just been moved as DDG (Security) in ISI. A Baloch Regiment officer and a Kayani confidante.

... contd.