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National Defence University, Pakistan

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National Defence University
Urdu: جامعہ قومی دفاعِ پاکستان
Seal of the NDU
Former name
National Defence College
MottoArabic: عَلَّمَ الْإِنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ (al-Quran (30:96:5))
Motto in English
"taught man which he knew not"
TypeMilitary
Established28 May 1970; 54 years ago (1970-05-28)
Affiliation
Academic affiliation
Higher Education Commission
ChancellorAsif Ali Zardari
PresidentLt Gen. Aamer Najam
Vice-presidentR ADM Javaid Iqbal
DeanProfessor Dr. Arshi Saleem Hashmi
Students4,000
Undergraduates3000
Postgraduates500
100
Location
Islamabad
,
Islamabad Capital Territory
,
Pakistan
CampusUrban
LanguageEnglish, Urdu
ColorsGreen, White, Khaki
   
Websitewww.ndu.edu.pk

The National Defence University (NDU), formerly introduced as Army War Course (1963–70),[a] the National Defence College (1970–2007), is the military university of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan focused on military education and training for the armed forces, including Pakistan military forces and two hundred foreign participants.[1] Formerly established on 28 May 1970 at Rawalpindi, its academic principles are focused on command instructions, national security, military strategy, and war studies among other specified academic disciplines.[2][3] It is one of the oldest military education and training institutes in the country with additional enrollments reserved for the civil servants.[4]

Major general, then general Abdul Hamid Khan served as its first commandant, while brigadier Muhammad Ahmed was appointed the first chief instructor.[2] The president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan serves its chancellor while the chief of staff recommends appointment and the removal of its president, usually a three star armed officer.[5][6] Nearly 44 years later of its establishment as Armed War Course, it was awarded the status of university after being recognised by the education commission of Pakistan on 5 February 2007 while the former Armed War Course (later re-designated as Armed War Forces Course) became one of its components.[7][8]

History

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The origin of the National Defence University is historically associated with major general, the then lieutenant general, Sahabzada Yaqub Khan and Command and Staff College who introduced Army War Course on 1 May 1963 to Command and Staff College after he was asked in 1962 to establish a separate and a single purpose war course to that college. It initially comprised twelve participants (known as students and faculty members), including two from armed forces – one from navy and other from air force. With the continuation of war studies, its participants were increased to sixteen in 1965. However, staff college was left without war course faculty following the 1965 conflict between India and Pakistan. The discontinuation of the faculty gained attention of the authorities, and the National Defence College (NDC), a stand-alone institute was established on 28 May 1970 at Lalkurti area of Rawalpindi Cantonment. It was housed in the Ayub Hall of the old National Assembly Building.[2] The institute was later shifted to its permanent building where it worked for nearly 25 years.

During that 25 years, the college was re-designated multiple times, including in 1971 when the Army War Course was awarded the status of the Armed Forces War Course to serve for armed forces than only army. The number of faculty participants were increased from sixteen to twenty, with three officers from navy and air force.

To award the officers MSc degree in war studies, the prime minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto signed an order in 1975 to affiliate the NDC with Federal University of Islamabad (in modern-day Quaid-i-Azam University). Five years later of affiliation with Quaid university, military dictator Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the then 6th president of Pakistan signed an order in February 1980 to shift the college to the capital city Islamabad for its space expansion. Following that order, it was shifted to the new building on 17 August 1995.

The government of Pakistan upgraded it to university in 2007, while the Naval War College gained the status of Armed Forces War College, which is now a component of the National Defence University. As of March 2007, the NDU acts as a nation university in the country, and the two years later of its upgradation, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee redesignated both Army War Course, Armed Forces War Course, and National Defence Course faculties into one single component of the university, which is now known as National Security and War Course.[2]

Buildings and sites

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National Defence University building
E-9 Sector, Islamabad

Since its formation as a faculty and then college in Rawalpindi, it was shifted several times from one building to other, including the old national assembly near Rawalpindi Cantonment until it was permanently shifted to Islamabad in 1995. The main building is now located in Sector E-9, Islamabad near Margalla Hills.[1]

Emblem

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The emblem (generally identified as logo, although the official description of emblem do not mention "logo") of the NDU depicts the concept of national security, defence and ideological foundation of the organisation, consisting an Islamic shield with three-service colors, encircled by a black border with silver edges. It is surrounded by a golden wreath with a star and crescent presented on the top of emblem. It is placed on a green background, depicting the national color of Pakistan. The lower portion of the Islamic shield is occupied by the two swords placed in the form of crossed sword and a pen, which occupies the upper portion. The pen and crossed sword and their placements represent "honour, strength and achievement through learning".

The motto is inscribed inside the shield which is placed on top centre printed in gold letters.[9]

Composition

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Organizational structure of the National Defence University

The National Defence University consists two heads – the president of Pakistan who acts as chancellor and a three star military officers, usually a lieutenant general or a vice admiral who acts a president of the university, sometimes referred to as commandant university. The organisation consist four main faculties/branches such as Faculty of Security Studies (FSS), Faculty of Contemporary Studies (FCS), Institute for Strategic Studies, Research & Analysis (ISSRA), and National War Gaming Center (NWGC). The academic administration of FSS and FCS are headed by a dean.[10]

Faculty of Security Studies

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The National Security College, Armed Forces War College, and Allied Officers Division (AOD) are headed by two star officer that works under FSS faculty. Its academic discipline is focused on national security and its elements, in addition to military, operational, and nuclear strategies. It also involves in preparedness of command and staff assignments.[11]

Faculty of Contemporary Studies

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The FCS awards academic degrees to the participants. It includes five departments such as Leadership and Management Studies (LMS) – which awards bachelor's degree, master of philosophy, master's in project management, and doctor of philosophy. The Government and Public Policy (GPP) awards same degrees as to LMS, however, it is focused on government and public policy and also excludes master's in project management. The Strategic Studies (SS), International Relations (IR), and Peace and Conflict Studies (PCS) award the officers same degrees as to GPP, however their branches of studies varied.[12]

Institute for Strategic Studies, Research & Analysis

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The ISSRA organization is headed by a two star officer who acts a director general.[13] It is further divided into seven branches such as Global and Regional Studies, Internal Studies, Defence Studies, Coord & Collaboration, Research & Publication, Keystone Capstone & Pinnacle Program, and Sahabzada Yaqub Khan (SYK) library. At staff, ISSRA is primarily focused on seminars, discussions, conferences, visiting briefings, and to interact with think tanks within the country.[14]

National War Gaming Center

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The National War Gaming Center (NWGC) do not have other branches likewise FCC or FCS. Based on strategic thinking, it was created to run wargames focused on to execute military operation plans, disaster, and emergency management. It uses the NATO-based computer network to execute military tactics.[14][15]

Libraries

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Its digital library consists print material from 70,000 books, periodicals, contemporary journals, pamphlets, government and daily newspaper publications. One of its major print material resources is Higher Education Commission of the country. It has also a fictional library which consists data from books, concerning women and children.

Its mapping section is intended for the creation of maps, and draughtsmen or other persons specialized in that area participates in that section designed for the production of graphic works.[11]

Academic profile

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Teaching and degrees

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The National Defence University's contemporary studies faculty award bachelor's, master of philosophy and doctorate degrees in various academic fields such as international relations, and public policy among others.[4]

Faculty of Contemporary Studies

  • Leadership and Management Studies (LMS)[12]
  • Government and Public Policy (GPP)
    • BS
    • M.Phill
    • Ph.D
  • Strategic Studies (SS)
    • BS
    • M.Phill
    • Ph.D
  • International Relations (IR)
    • BS
    • M.Phill
    • Ph.D
  • Peace and Conflict Studies (PCS)
    • BS
    • M.Phill
    • Ph.D

Role as a think tank

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The NDU's wing Institute for Strategic Studies, Research & Analysis (ISSRA) acts as a national think tank on national security matters, and is reportedly an internal part of the National Security Division, headed by a national security division secretary.[16] Inputs are provided to the government and armed forces to maintains academic links with domestic and foreign think tanks and defence universities with which Pakistan shares friendly relations.[17]

Amendments

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The parliament of Pakistan introduced an act in 2011 titled National Defence University, Act 2011, outlining the academic, administration, and financial amendments, in addition to establishment of the NDU. It was formerly signed by the president on 14 May 2011 after majlis-ash-shura such as the national assembly and the senate passed the bill. It functions under that act, however employing officers, teacher and other staff members are sanctioned by the Higher Education Commission Ordinance, 2002. The act restrict government and other authorities to qualify or disqualify the officers, teachers, students, or any other participant associated with the university, on the grounds of their "gender, religion, race, creed, class, colour, or domicile".[6]

The act identifies the chancellor, president, dean, commandant (director general), chairperson (chief instructor), registrar, controller examination, director administration and director finance as the principal officers and also determines their powers and the functions.

Appointments

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The act allows the president of Pakistan to act as the chancellor, while the president of the university is recommended by the chief of army staff for the final approval of the chancellor. If the post of university president falls vacant due to any uncertainty such as health complications or death, it is not assumed by the other members with an additional charge of the president. The post is generally assumed for the term of five years, however the incumbent may be terminated if recommended by the army chief.[6]

List of presidents/commandants

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# Name Picture Start date End date Ref(s)
1 Lt Gen. Abdul Hameed Khan 19 July 1970 7 December 1970 [18]
2 Major General Nasir Ahmad Chaudhri 3 April 1972 19 July 1974
3 Major General M. Rahim Khan 20 July 1974 31 August 1975
4 AVM Michael John O'Brian 1 September 1975 9 April 1976
5 Lt Gen. Azmat B. Awan 9 April 1976 30 October 1978
6 Major General Anwar Masood 1 October 1978 1 September 1979
7 Lt Gen. Ejaz Azim 10 September 1979 9 April 1980
8 Major General Nishat Ahmed 10 April 1980 20 June 1984
9 Lt Gen. S M H Bokhari 21 June 1984 4 January 1988
10 Lt Gen. Muhammad Safdar 5 January 1988 31 July 1989
11 Lt Gen. Zakir Ali Zaidi 1 August 1989 18 June 1990
12 Lt Gen. Rehmdil Bhatti 8 September 1990 9 February 1993
13 Lt Gen. Asad Durrani 10 February 1993 14 May 1993
14 Lt Gen. Iftikhar Ali Khan 15 May 1993 17 June 1993
15 Lt Gen. Syed Tanveer Hussain Naqvi 18 June 1994 31 January 1996
16 Lt Gen. Muhammad Maqbool 1 February 1996 4 June 1998
17 Lt Gen. Mahmud Ahmed 5 June 1998 25 October 1998
18 Lt Gen. Salahuddin Tirmizi 25 October 1998 2 March 2000
19 Lt Gen. Saeed Uz Zafar 13 March 2000 29 October 2000
20 Lt Gen. Javed Hassan 30 October 2000 3 January 2004
21 Lt Gen. Tariq Waseem Ghazi 3 January 2004 16 October 2004
22 Lt Gen. Shahid Hamid 17 October 2004 4 November 2005
23 Lt Gen. Raza Muhammad Khan 7 November 2005 30 June 2007
24 Lt Gen. Muhammad Hamid Khan 1 July 2007 11 October 2009
25 Lt Gen. Muhammad Yousaf 12 October 2009 15 September 2010
26 Lt Gen. Agha Muhammad Umer Farooq 8 October 2010 21 July 2012
27 Lt Gen. Nasser Khan Janjua 30 July 2012 26 August 2013
28 Lt Gen. Javed Iqbal Ramday 26 August 2013 30 April 2015
29 Lt Gen. Anwar Ali Hyder 1 May 2015 10 April 2016
30 Lt Gen. Nazir Ahmed Butt 11 April 2016 19 December 2016
31 Lt Gen. Rizwan Akhtar 20 December 2016 9 October 2017
32 Lt Gen. Majid Ehsan 24 October 2017 14 December 2018
33 Lt Gen. Aamer Riaz 15 December 2018 4 October 2019
34 Lt Gen. Muhammad Saeed 28 November 2019 7 November 2021 [19]
35 Lt Gen. Nauman Mehmood 23 November 2021 24 April 2023 [20]
36 Lt Gen. Rahat Naseem Ahmed Khan 3 May 2023 24 November 2023
37 Lt Gen. Asif Ghafoor 24 November 2023 November 2024
38 Lt Gen.Aamer Najam November 2024 Incumbent

Notable alumni

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See also: Category:National Defence University, Pakistan alumni and Category:Academic staff of the National Defence University, Pakistan

Throughout its history from a college to university, some of its alumni and faculty members became notable in academic, politics, military and many other varied fields.

Pakistani generals who attended the National Defence University
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
Ehsan ul Haq
Raheel Sharif

Many Pakistani generals, including Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Ehsan ul Haq, and Raheel Sharif attended the National Defence University. Kayani graduated from National Defence College and also remained faculty member of the university.[21] Ehsan ul Haq graduated from NDU and Command and Staff College, Quetta, an affiliated institute of the university.[22] Raheel Sharif is among the other generals who attended the university.[23]

Pakistani admirals who attended the National Defence University
Afzal Tahir
Amjad Khan Niazi
Zafar Mahmood Abbasi

In addition to Pakistani generals, some alumni from the naval department became notable in their respective fields. Admiral Afzal Tahir graduated from the National Defence College,[24] while Shahid Karimullah, attended armed forces war course department of the National Defence College.[25] Zafar Mahmood Abbasi is also an alumnus of the university[26] while Amjad Khan Niazi graduated from NDU and Command and Staff College.[27]

Pakistani politicians who attended the National Defence University
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf

Musharraf, the 10th president of Pakistan graduated from the National Defence College and Command and Staff College, Quetta, an affiliated institute of NDU.[28]

Publications

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  • NDU Journal is an annual feature of the university which is based on the research papers by the students, researchers, and policy makers. The publications provide ideas on issues of national security of Pakistan. Before an article is published in the journal, it is single peer reviewed.[29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "PAKISTAN ARMY". PAKISTAN ARMY. 10 September 2021. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  3. ^ Reddy, B. Muralidhar (25 May 2011). "Pakistan's military officers, seen through American eyes". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b "NDU Islamabad: Here's Everything You Need To Know About It". The Academia. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  5. ^ NDU President. "President of the National Defence University". www.ndu.edu.pk. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  6. ^ a b c "Acts, ordinances, president's orders and regulations" (PDF). na.gov.pk. 27 October 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Universities". hec.gov.pk. 8 April 2019. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  8. ^ "National Defence University background". ndu.edu.pk. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018.
  9. ^ "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  10. ^ "National Defence University, Islamabad". 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  11. ^ a b "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 28 September 2020. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  12. ^ a b "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 30 September 2020. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  13. ^ "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 10 August 2020. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  14. ^ a b "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  15. ^ "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 14 July 2020. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  16. ^ Kartha, Tara (20 March 2021). "Pakistan's changing idea of national security". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  17. ^ Noor, Sitara (28 March 2021). "Democratising the debate". The News International. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  18. ^ "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  19. ^ "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  20. ^ "President". National Defence University, Islamabad. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  21. ^ Pike, John (29 November 2007). "Ashfaq Parvez Kayani". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  22. ^ "New JCSC chief, VCOAS appointed". DAWN.COM. 3 October 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  23. ^ Pike, John (1 January 1970). "Chief of Army Staff (COAS)". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  24. ^ "Vice Admiral Afzal appointed Naval chief". Brecorder. 24 September 2005. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  25. ^ "New navy chief named". DAWN.COM. 4 October 2002. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  26. ^ Web Desk (7 October 2017). "Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi assumes command of Pakistan Navy". The News International. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  27. ^ "Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi assumes command as Chief of Naval Staff". The Express Tribune. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  28. ^ "Pervez Musharraf giography". britannica.com. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  29. ^ "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  30. ^ "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  31. ^ "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  32. ^ "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  33. ^ "National Defence University, Islamabad". ndu.edu.pk. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.

Notes

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  1. ^ AWC was a military faculty, not an independent institute. It was introduced to Command and Staff College, and represents historical concept responsible for the origin of NDU. It is now a component of NDU known as National Security and War Course.
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