Picture of PM Nawaz accidentally reveals more than intended about his relations with Army

ISLAMABAD – A picture tweeted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, of her father’s official flight from Lahore to Islamabad may have revealed more than both father and daughter had intended, as it clearly shows the premier giving serious consideration to a file clearly marked with the logo of the General Headquarters (GHQ).

The GHQ is the strategic and operational command center of the Pakistan Army, an institutional which technically falls under the Nawaz-led government, but which, in actuality, is a largely independent player in the Pakistani administration.

Since the Nawaz government came into power, the military establishment and the civilian government have maintained a tenuous relationship based on cooperation and competition, in equal parts.

Very early into its tenure, the current government found itself at loggerheads with the military establishment on key national issues, such as former President and military dictator General (Retd.) Pervez Musharraf’s (still) ongoing treason trial and Nawaz Sharif’s friendly overtures towards Pakistan’s neighbor and regional rival, India.

According to civil-military observers, relations between the civilian government and the military are still strained, even more than halfway into the tenure of the current government.

The military has privately expressed dissatisfaction at certain policies and decisions of the civilian government, according to well-placed sources, especially in relation to the government’s handling of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor project and its choice for the next Army Chief.

Throughout all this speculation, the civilian government has persistently maintained that it is one the same page with the military establishment and has led the way forward on all key national issues.

However, the picture of Nawaz Sharif pensively perusing through a GHQ file goes against the government’s claims that all is as it should be between the civilian and military establishments.