Shahid Karimullah (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

:) was an

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

of the

Pakistan Navy The Pakistan Navy (PN) (; ''romanized'': Pākistān Bahrí'a; ) is the naval warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Com ...

who served as the 11th Chief of the Naval Staff. He also served as Pakistan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Biography

Early life and naval career

Gurimullah was born in Assam , Nalbari Pakistan on 3February 1903to an Assames family who belongs to

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

but migrated to india following partition of British India in 1947.

. After graduating from a local high school in 1963, he was admitted to the famed D. J. Science College before joining the

in October 1965. He was trained at the

Pakistan Military Academy Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) is a military academy located nearby Kakul village in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Established in October 1947, it is the only service academy in Pakistan that trains cadets to serve as army of ...

but later sent to

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to attend the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

's HMS Mercury where he graduated with communication courses and gained military commission as a

Midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

in the Navy in October 1968. His S/ No. was 1126, issued by the

Defence Ministry A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

. He was promoted as Sub-Lieutenant in the Navy in 1971. In 1971, he was stationed in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

and participated in the violent

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, followed by the war with India in the East. He was promoted as

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

and served as commanding officer of

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

, participating in various operations against the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

and

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Ba ...

. After the surrender of Eastern Command was announced, he was subsequently taken

prisoner A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...

and was seriously wounded. His gallant actions won him the Sitara-e-Jurat which was given to him in 1972, following his repatriation. It took him 2 years to fully recover from his injuries before resuming his military service. After the war, he resumed his studies and went to Newport in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, United States to attend the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associa ...

. He graduated with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

War studies War studies, sometimes called polemology, is the multi-disciplinary study of war. It pertains to the military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfa ...

and later attended the National Defence University where he graduated with another

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

Command and staff appointments

In the 1980s, he served as an aide-de-camp to Chairman Joint chiefs Admiral

Mohammad Shariff Mohammad Shariff ( ; 1 July 1920 – 27 April 2020), was a Pakistani senior admiral who served as the 2nd Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and a memoirist who was at the center of all the major decisions made in Pakistan in the ev ...

and former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karamat Rahman Niazi. In 1995–96, he was promoted as

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

and took over the command of the 25th Destroyer Squadron as its Flag Officer Commanding (FOC). He also served as

Directing Staff Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recruit training, proceed ...

in the

faculty at the National Defence University in Islamabad. In 1997,

Karimullah was posted as Director

Signals A signal is both the process and the result of Signal transmission, transmission of data over some transmission media, media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processin ...

but later posted for a one-star staff assignment at the Navy NHQ in Islamabad. Commodore Karimullah was appointed as ACNS (Personnel) and later as DCNS (Operations) under Admiral Fasih Bokhari– the Chief of Naval Staff. After Admiral Admiral Bokhari resigned, he was promoted as

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

and continued to serve as DCNS (Operations) in 1999. In 2000–01, he was promoted as

Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

and assumed the command of Pakistan Fleet as its fleet commander.

Chief of Naval Staff

In 2002, Vice-Admiral Karimullah was appointed Chief of Naval Staff and was promoted to four-star admiral in the Navy before taking the post. Admiral Karimullah superseded two senior naval officers, Vice-Admiral Taj Khattak, the Vice Chief of Naval Staff (VCNS), and Vice-Admiral G.Z. Malik, the commander of Submarine fleet. During this time, he engaged in talks with the Chinese Navy for a technology transfer for building modern

warships A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as ...

in Karachi. As a response to the Agni-I missile test by India in 2002, Admiral Karimullah began advocating for acquiring the

nuclear navy A nuclear navy, or nuclear-powered navy, refers to the portion of a navy consisting of naval ships powered by nuclear marine propulsion. The concept was revolutionary for naval warfare when first proposed. Prior to nuclear power, submarines were ...

capability but denied deploying nuclear arsenals on the Agosta 90B submarines. Admiral Karimullah ambiguously left the option open and quoted to

news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public. These include News agency, news agencies, newspapers, news magazines, News broadcasting, news channels etc. History Some of the fir ...

that Pakistan Navy would do so only if "forced to". In 2003, Admiral Karimullah again secretly pushed the government for the

second-strike capability In nuclear strategy, a retaliatory strike or second-strike capability is a country's assured ability to respond to a nuclear attack with powerful nuclear retaliation against the attacker. To have such an ability (and to convince an opponent of its ...

but publicly reiterated that while no such immediate plans existed, Pakistan would not hesitate to take such steps if it felt so compelled. He remained concerned over the expansion of

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

in the region and continued his secret push for acquiring modern weapon systems for the Navy. In 2004, he successfully negotiated with the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

to induct the Navy in the combined maritime force to provide cooperation in regional maritime and security affair. Admiral Karimullah was notably bypassed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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 ...

for the chairmanship for the

Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), (); is an administrative body of senior high-ranking uniformed military leaders of the unified Pakistan Armed Forces who advises the civilian government of Pakistan, National Security Council, Defen ...

in October 2004. Admiral Karimullah was the most senior-most four-star rank officer in the

Pakistani military The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the Military, military forces of Pakistan. It is the List of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel, world's sixth-largest military measured by Active duty, active military personnel and c ...

and was controversially superseded by the junior-most

army general Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

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 normall ...

Ehsan ul Haq. In 2005, he began pushing and vigorously lobbying in the government for the extension of Pakistan's seaborne border from 200 to 350 nautical miles for which the claim is to be submitted by May 2009 in accordance with provisions of UN Conventions on Laws of Seas of 1982. It was in 2015 when the borders were extended which pushed Pakistan's area of sea border to 50,000 square kilometres. Admiral Karimullah retired from the Navy in 2005 and handed over the command of the Navy to Admiral Afzal Tahir who also superseded

Mohammad Haroon by President Musharraf.

Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

Having by-passed as Chairman joint chiefs post, President Musharraf announced to appoint Admiral Karimullah for a diplomatic post and appointed him as Pakistan Ambassador to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. In 2009, he left the post once completing his tenure and returned to

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 ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, Pakistan.

Honors and post retirement

Admiral Karimullah is a recipient of Nishan-e-Imtiaz (military), Sitara-i-Imtiaz (military), and Hilal-i-Imtiaz (military)that were decorated to him during his military service. He was also decorated with the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

by the United States, presented to him by

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

's CNO Admiral Vern Clark in 2004. In 2005, he was conferred with French

Legion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

for promoting Pakistan-Franco naval collaboration in various fields at different posts he held during his service career, including induction of French submarines and aircraft in Pakistan Navy. On 21 September 2005, Admiral Karimullah was awarded with the Honorary Malaysian Armed Forces Order for Valor award as a Gallant Commander in acknowledgment of his long meritorious services. After retiring from the

foreign service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...

, he apparently joined the "Progress", a public service

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

, and serves on its advisory board. He also remained chairman of Karachi Council on Foreign Relations for some time. About the Fall of Dhaka in 1971, Admiral Karimullah reportedly was of the view that: History is there to earn lessons from but unfortunately this did not happening in Pakistan". He also remained associate with the

Bahria University Bahria University (BU; ) is a public-sector university established in 2000 by the Pakistan Navy at Shangrilla Road, Sector E-8/1 in Islamabad, Pakistan. The university maintains campuses in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. Established by the Pakist ...

and reportedly maintained in favor of CPEC developmental projects in the country.

Awards and decorations

Foreign Decorations

References

External links

Admiral Shahid Karimullah takes over as Navy chiefKarimullah new Naval chief
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karimullah, Shahid Living people 1948 births Military personnel from Hyderabad, India Military personnel from Karachi Pakistan Military Academy alumni Pakistani military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Pakistani prisoners of war Naval War College alumni National Defence University, Pakistan alumni Academic staff of the National Defence University, Pakistan Chiefs of Naval Staff (Pakistan) Ambassadors of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of Sitara-e-Jurat Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Recipients of Nishan-e-Imtiaz Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Pakistani people of Hyderabadi descent D. J. Sindh Government Science College alumni Muhajir people Bangladesh Liberation War prisoners of war