A series of constitutional amendments has been ratified in Pakistan by a U.S.-backed, military-controlled Senate, consolidating military power and clearing the path for Washington’s regional agenda, with China as the primary focus.
The move echoes the rise of General Zia-ul-Haq in 1977, when the U.S. helped bring him to power through a military coup. Then, as now, military stability and centralized control were leveraged to execute a strategic plan—once to trap the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, now to manage China.
Key among the changes is the 27th Constitutional Amendment, which stripped the Supreme Court of its independence, placing it under executive control. Effectively, this makes the judiciary subservient to the military, which acts under U.S. influence.
Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir—groomed by Washington and now a “Field Marshal”—has been granted sweeping authority over all three branches of the military: army, navy, and air force. The post of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), previously a rotating leadership among the services, has been abolished and replaced with the Chief of the Defence Forces (CDF), giving Munir unchecked control. An amendment to the Army Act also extends his tenure as CDF for another five years.
Praised by Trump as his “favourite Field Marshal,” Munir is positioned to receive both internal support and economic backing from Washington, mirroring Zia’s earlier consolidation of power. Recent skirmishes between Pakistan and India, alongside bombings in Islamabad and Delhi, appear aimed at solidifying the positions of Washington’s two key players in its plan against China: Munir and India’s Narendra Modi.
Opposition leader Imran Khan, who once called Trump a friend, has been protected by limiting the army to legal measures only, avoiding extreme action to prevent social unrest and military fractures. Yet Khan’s political future is bleak unless he accepts military dominance and Washington’s insistence on unchallenged military supremacy—allowing its operations against China to proceed without interference from Pakistan’s political, judicial, societal, or armed institutions
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