Editing Pervez Musharraf (section)

==Military career==
In 1961, at the age of 18,<ref name="Free Press (publisher)"/> Musharraf entered the [[Pakistan Military Academy]] at [[Kakul]].<ref name="factbox1">[http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-pakistani-politics-musharraf-idUKMOL84968820080818 "FACTBOX – Facts about Pakistani Leader Pervez Musharraf"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018080905/http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/08/18/uk-pakistani-politics-musharraf-idUKMOL84968820080818 |date=18 October 2012}}. Reuters (18 August 2008).</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Q&A on What's Happening in Pakistan |date=5 November 2007 |publisher=MSNBC |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna21641531|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224043021/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21641531/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/t/qa-whats-happening-pakistan/|archive-date=24 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> At the Academy, General Musharraf formed a deep friendship with [[General (Sri Lanka)|General]] [[Srilal Weerasooriya]], who went on to become the 15th Commander of the Sri Lankan Army. This enduring camaraderie between the two officers played a pivotal role in cultivating robust diplomatic and military ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the years that followed.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/515515/tricks-of-the-trade-from-a-sri-lankan-general-and-some-secrets | title=Tricks of the trade from a Sri Lankan general, and some secrets | date=3 March 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sundaytimes.lk/991017/frontm.html|title=The Sunday Times Front Section|website=sundaytimes.lk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.themorning.lk/articles/DhoICUtzjKnARsoOdeKr | title=Profile: Pervez Musharraf the cowboy who saved us | date=25 February 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tribune.com.pk/article/16123/meeting-sri-lanka%E2%80%99s-ex-army-chief|title=Meeting Sri Lanka's ex-army chief|date=19 February 2013|website=The Express Tribune}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sangam.org/pervez-musharraf-an-adversary-of-the-eelam-state/|title=Pervez Musharraf, an Adversary of the Eelam State – Ilankai Tamil Sangam|website=sangam.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalmag.com/if-india-cant-pakistan-mightpakistan-india-sri-lanka/|title=IF INDIA CAN'T, PAKISTAN MIGHT|date=1 September 2000|website=Himal Southasian}}</ref>

Also during his college years at PMA and initial joint military testings, Musharraf shared a [[Dormitory|room]] with [[Parvaiz Mehdi Qureshi|PQ Mehdi]] of the [[Pakistan Air Force]] and [[Abdul Aziz Mirza]] of the [[Pakistan Navy|Navy]] (both reached four-star assignments and served with Musharraf later on) and after giving the exams and entrance interviews, all three cadets went to watch a world-acclaimed Urdu film, ''[[The Day Shall Dawn|Savera]]'' ({{lit|Dawn}}), with his inter-services and college friends, Musharraf recalls, ''[[In the Line of Fire: A Memoir|In the Line of Fire]]'', published in 2006.<ref name="Free Press (publisher)">{{cite book|last=Musharraf|first=Pervez|title=In the Line of Fire: A Memoir|publisher=[[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]]|location=Pakistan|isbn=074-3283449|pages=[https://archive.org/details/inlineoffirememo00mush/page/40 40]–60|url=https://archive.org/details/inlineoffirememo00mush|url-access=registration|edition=1|access-date=17 May 2012|date=25 September 2006}}</ref>

With his friends, Musharraf passed the standardised, physical, psychological, and officer-training exams, he also took discussions involving [[socioeconomics]] issues; all three were interviewed by joint military officers who were designated as Commandants.<ref name="Free Press (publisher)"/> The next day, Musharraf along with PQ Mehdi and Mirza, reported to PMA and they were selected for their respective training in their arms of commission.<ref name="Free Press (publisher)"/>

Finally, in 1964, Musharraf graduated with a [[Bachelor's degree]] in his class of 29th PMA Long Course together with [[Ali Kuli Khan]] and his lifelong friend Abdul Aziz Mirza.<ref name="nytsoldier"/> He was commissioned in the [[Pakistan Army Regiment of Artillery|artillery regiment]] as second lieutenant and posted near the [[India-Pakistan Border|Indo-Pakistan]] border.<ref name="nytsoldier">Crossette, Barbara. [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/13/world/coup-pakistan-man-soldier-s-soldier-not-political-general-pervez-musharraf.html "Coup in Pakistan – Man in the News; A Soldier's Soldier, Not a Political General"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728104340/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/13/world/coup-pakistan-man-soldier-s-soldier-not-political-general-pervez-musharraf.html |date=28 July 2017}}. ''The New York Times'' (13 October 1999).</ref><ref name="straits"/> During this time in the artillery regiment, Musharraf maintained his close friendship and contact with Mirza through letters and telephones even in difficult times when Mirza, after joining the [[Special Service Group Navy|Navy Special Service Group]], was stationed in [[East Pakistan|East-Pakistan]].<ref name="Free Press (publisher)"/>

===Indo-Pakistani conflicts (1965–1971)===
{{further|Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts}}
His first battlefield experience was with an artillery regiment during the intense fighting for the [[Khemkaran]] sector in the [[Second Kashmir War]].<ref>Schmetzer, Uli. [https://www.chicagotribune.com/1999/10/13/coup-leader-is-hawkish-toward-india/ "Coup Leader Is Hawkish Toward India"] . ''Chicago Tribune''. Battle of Asal Uttar (13 October 1999).</ref> He also participated in the [[Lahore]] and [[Sialkot]] war zones during the conflict.<ref name="chitkara"/> During the war, Musharraf developed a reputation for sticking to his post under shellfire.<ref name="bbcfour"/> He received the [[Imtiazi Sanad]] medal for gallantry.<ref name="CNNprofile" /><ref name="factbox1" />

Shortly after the end of the War of 1965, he joined the elite [[Special Service Group|Special Service Group (SSG)]].<ref name="worth"/><ref name="nytsoldier"/> He served in the SSG from 1966 to 1972.<ref name="worth"/><ref name="weaver"/> He was promoted to [[Captain (army)|captain]] and to major during this period.<ref name="worth"/> During the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|1971 war]] with India, he was a [[company commander]] of an SSG [[commando]] battalion.<ref name="chitkara"/> During the 1971 war he was scheduled to depart to East Pakistan to join the [[Pakistan Armed Forces|army-navy]] joint military operations, but the deployment was cancelled after Indian Army advances towards [[Southern Pakistan]].<ref name="Free Press (publisher)"/>

===Staff appointment, student officer, professorship and brigade commander (1972–1990)===
Musharraf was promoted to [[lieutenant colonel]] in 1974;<ref name="worth" /> and to [[colonel]] in 1978.<ref name="harmon">Harmon, Daniel E. "A Nation Under Military Rule". Pervez Musharraf: President of Pakistan. New York: Rosen Pub., 2008. [https://books.google.com/books?id=lgJ03ubVAN0C&pg=PA45 pp. 44–47] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101105835/https://books.google.com/books?id=lgJ03ubVAN0C&pg=PA45 |date=1 January 2016}} {{ISBN|1404219056}}</ref> As [[staff officer]] in the 1980s, he studied [[political science]] at the [[National Defence University, Islamabad|National Defence University]] (NDU), and then briefly tenured as assistant professor of [[war studies]] at the [[Pakistan Command and Staff College|Command and Staff College]] and then assistant professor of political science also at NDU.<ref name="nytsoldier" /><ref name="straits">[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4k1OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dxQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3934,108921&dq=musharraf+command+and+staff+college+quetta&hl=en "Pakistan's Chief Executive a Former Commando"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117041208/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4k1OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dxQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3934,108921&dq=musharraf+command+and+staff+college+quetta&hl=en |date=17 November 2015}}. ''New Straits Times'' (16 October 1999).</ref><ref name="weaver" /> One of his professors at NDU was general [[Jehangir Karamat]] who served as Musharraf's guidance counsellor and instructor who had significant influence on Musharraf's philosophy and critical thinking.<ref name="Free Press 79">{{cite book |last=Musharraf |first=Pervez |title=In the Line of Fire |year=2006 |publisher=Free Press |location=Islamabad, Pakistan |isbn=0-7432-8344-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/inlineoffirememo00mush/page/79 79] |url=https://archive.org/details/inlineoffirememo00mush |url-access=registration |access-date=15 November 2015 }}</ref> He did not play any significant role in Pakistan's [[proxy war]] in the 1979–1989 [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]].<ref name="weaver">Weaver, Mary Anne. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=9QELJpZuuswC&pg=PA25 General On Tightrope] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101105835/https://books.google.com/books?id=9QELJpZuuswC&pg=PA25 |date=1 January 2016}}". Pakistan: in the Shadow of Jihad and Afghanistan. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. pp. 25–31 {{ISBN|0374528861}}</ref> In 1987, he became a [[brigade commander]] of a new brigade of the SSG near [[Siachen Glacier]].<ref name="dixit" /> He was personally chosen by then-President and Chief of Army Staff general Zia-ul-Haq for this assignment due to Musharraf's wide experience in [[Mountain warfare|mountain]] and [[arctic warfare]].<ref name="Pentagon Press">{{cite book |last=John |first=Wilson |title=The General and Jihad |year=2002 |publisher=Pentagon Press |location=Washington D.C. |isbn=81-8274-158-0 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FROoqAp2QJsC&pg=PT45 |edition=1 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101105835/https://books.google.com/books?id=FROoqAp2QJsC&pg=PT45 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> In September 1987, Musharraf commanded an assault at [[Bilafond La]] before being pushed back.<ref name="dixit" />

He studied at the [[Royal College of Defence Studies]] (RCDS) in Britain during 1990–91.<ref name="chitkara" /> His course-mates included Major-generals B. S. Malik and [[Ashok K. Mehta|Ashok Mehta]]<ref name="Pentagon Press" /> of the Indian Army, and Ali Kuli Khan of Pakistan Army.<ref name="Pentagon Press" /> In his course studies, Musharraf performed extremely in relation to his classmates, submitted his master's degree thesis, titled "Impact of Arm Race in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent", and earned good remarks.<ref name="Pentagon Press" /> He submitted his thesis to Commandant General [[Antony Walker]] who regarded Musharraf as one of his finest students he had seen in his entire career.<ref name="Pentagon Press" /> At one point, Walker described Musharraf: "A capable, articulate and extremely personable officer, who made a valuable impact at RCDS. His country is fortunate to have the services of a man of his undeniable quality."<ref name="Pentagon Press" /> He graduated with a master's degree from RCDS and returned to Pakistan soon after.<ref name="Pentagon Press" /> Upon returning in the 1980s, Musharraf took an interest in the emerging [[Pakistani rock]] music genre, and often listened to rock music after leaving duty.<ref name="Free Press (publisher)" /> During that decade, regarded as the time when rock music in Pakistan began, Musharraf was reportedly keen on the popular [[1980s in fashion|Western fashions of the time]], which were then very popular in government and public circles.<ref name="Free Press (publisher)" /> While in the Army he earned the nickname "Cowboy" for his westernised ways and his fashion interest in Western clothing.<ref name="weaver" /><ref name="harmon" />

===Higher commands (1991–1995)===
Earlier in 1988–89, as Brigadier, Musharraf proposed the Kargil infiltration to Prime Minister [[Benazir Bhutto]] but she rebuffed the plan.<ref name="kapur">Kapur, S. Paul. "The Covert Nuclear Period". Dangerous Deterrent: Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and Conflict in South Asia. Singapore: NUS, 2009. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bt3WMTNX5QoC&pg=PA118 pp. 117–18] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101105835/https://books.google.com/books?id=bt3WMTNX5QoC&pg=PA118 |date=1 January 2016}} {{ISBN|9971694433}}</ref> In 1991–93, he secured a two-star promotion, elevating him to the rank of major general and held the command of [[Structure of the Pakistan Army|40th Division]] as its [[General Officer Commanding|GOC]], stationed in [[Okara Cantonment|Okara Military District]] in [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab Province]].<ref name="Pentagon Press"/> In 1993–95, Major-General Musharraf worked closely with the Chief of Army Staff as Director-General of Pakistan Army's Directorate General for the Military Operations (DGMO).<ref name="harmon"/> During this time, Musharraf became close to engineering officer and director-general of ''[[ISI (Pakistan)|ISI]]'' lieutenant-general [[Javed Nasir]] and had worked with him while directing operations in [[Bosnian war]].<ref name="Pentagon Press"/><ref>Wilson John, pp209</ref> His political philosophy was influenced by Benazir Bhutto<ref name="War"/> who mentored him on various occasions, and Musharraf generally was close to Benazir Bhutto on military policy issues on India.<ref name="War"/> From 1993 to 1995, Musharraf repeatedly visited the United States as part of the delegation of Benazir Bhutto.<ref name="War">Journalist and author George Crile's book, ''[[Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History]]'' (Grove Press, New York, 2003)</ref> It was Maulana [[Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)|Fazal-ur-Rehman]] who lobbied for his promotion to Benazir Bhutto, and subsequently getting Musharraf's promotion papers approved by Benazir Bhutto, which eventually led to his appointment in Benazir Bhutto's key staff.<ref name="Yale University Press">{{cite book |last=Hiro |first=Dilip |title=Apocalyptic realm: jihadists in South Asia |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |location=New Haven, CT |isbn=978-0300173789 |pages=200–210 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b9QqOMnCAq0C&pg=PA200 |date=17 April 2012 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101105835/https://books.google.com/books?id=b9QqOMnCAq0C&pg=PA200 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1993, Musharraf personally assisted Benazir Bhutto to have a secret meeting at the [[Pakistani embassy in Washington, D.C.]], with officials from the [[Mossad]] and a special envoy of Israeli premier [[Yitzhak Rabin]].<ref name="War"/> It was during this time Musharraf built an extremely cordial relationship with Shaukat Aziz who, at that time, was serving as the [[executive president]] of global financial services of the [[Citibank]].<ref name="War"/><ref name="BBC News, Islamabad">{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Chris |date=18 August 2008 |title=Pervez Musharraf's mixed legacy |work=Special report published by Chris Morris BBC News, Islamabad |publisher=BBC News, Islamabad |agency=BBC News, Islamabad |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7567592.stm |url-status=live |access-date=5 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105135550/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7567592.stm |archive-date=5 January 2015}}</ref>

After the collapse of the fractious Afghan government, Musharraf assisted General [[Naseerullah Babar|Babar]] and the [[Inter-Services Intelligence|Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)]] in devising a policy of supporting the newly formed [[Taliban]] in the [[Civil war in Afghanistan (1992–1996)|Afghan civil war]] against the [[Northern Alliance]] government.<ref name="weaver"/> On policy issues, Musharraf befriended [[List of Justices of Supreme Court of Pakistan|senior justice]] of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice [[Muhammad Rafiq Tarar|Rafiq Tarar]] (later president) and held common beliefs with the latter.<ref name="Pentagon Press"/>

His last military field operations posting was in the [[Mangla]] region of the [[Azad Kashmir|Kashmir Province]] in 1995 when Benazir Bhutto approved the promotion of Musharraf to three-star rank, [[Lieutenant-General]].<ref name="Pentagon Press"/> Between 1995 and 1998, Lieutenant-General Musharraf was the corps commander of [[I Corps (Pakistan)|I ''Strike'' Corps]] (CC-1) stationed in Mangla, [[Mangla Cantonment|Mangla Military District]].<ref name="nytsoldier"/>