Nadeem Taj, HI(M) (born 29 April 1953) is a retired three-star general in the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

who served as its Adjutant General (AG) in the GHQ.Shakil Shaikh
"Lt-Gen Khalid Nawaz to head 10-Corps"
''The News'', 29 April 2010 Previously, he headed the ISI and the

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

. He was also the Commander of the XXX Corps at Gujranwala.Sajjad Malik
"ISI chief, four corps commanders changed"
''Daily Times'', 30 September 2008

Career

Taj was commissioned in the

's Punjab Regiment in August 1972 in the 2nd Special War Course. His name came into prominence when he as a Brigadier General was accompanying then

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and ...

and Chief of Army Staff General

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

on his way back from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

on 12 October 1999 when their plane was denied landing on the orders of

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then ...

at Jinnah Terminal,

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, brewing a crisis that ultimately led to overthrow of the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

. Taj was also with Musharraf during the assassination attempts on him in December 2003.

Chief of Intelligence

Taj was promoted to Major General on 1 February 2002 and was already serving as the Military Secretary (MS) to the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

(different from Military Secretary (MS), GHQ). It was during this time when Musharraf's convoy was attacked in Rawalpindi. Shortly after that incident, Taj was appointed

Director General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

(DGMI) in December 2003 in the place of Tariq Majid who was promoted to

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

and took charge as the new Chief of General Staff. Major General Shafaat Ullah Shah took the place of Taj and became the new Military Secretary to the President. Taj continued as the DGMI until February 2005, when he was replaced by Major Gen Mian Nadeem Ijaz Ahmed.

Command and staff appointments

On 29 September 2008,

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

reported that "Washington is understood to be exerting intense pressure on Pakistan to remove ISI boss Nadeem Taj and two of his deputies because of the key agency's alleged "double-dealing" with the militants."Bruce Loudon
"ISI chief urged to quit as battle rages at border"
''

'', 29 September 2008 Taj took over the XXX Corps after the incumbent Lt Gen Waseem Ahmad Ashraf retired from the army on 4 October 2008. He was later relieved of his duties and made the Adjutant General (AG) of the

on 29 April 2010, replacing Lt Gen Javed Zia who in turn was appointed as Commander Southern Command in

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taj, Nadeem Living people 1953 births Pakistan Army lieutenant generals Directors General of Inter-Services Intelligence Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Pakistan Military Academy alumni