Asim Saleem Bajwa

Lieutenant General (Retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa (Urdu/) is a retired Pakistani three-star general who is serving as the Chairman of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority since November 2019 and served as the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting from 28 April 2020 to 12 October 2020. On 11 December 2016, Bajwa was appointed as Inspector General Arms at GHQ, where he served until his appointment to the key position of Commander Southern Command & XII Corps (Pakistan) in September 2017. Previously, he also served as Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), from 2012 to 2016 preceding Major Gen. Asif Ghafoor Now Lieutenant General.
Education and background.
Bajwa was commissioned in the 34th Punjab Regiment in 1984 after being passed out from the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul. He graduated from the Command and Staff College in Quetta, as well as the National Defence University (NDU) in Islamabad, followed by the Staff College, Camberley. He holds master's degrees in war studies from National Defence University, Islamabad and defence studies from King's College London.
Military career.
Bajwa held a range of command, staff and instructional appointments.
During his military career, Asim Bajwa has served on multiple Instructional and Command-Level posts, such as leading an Anti-Tank Battalion, the 111th Infantry Brigade and an infantry division in erstwhile Tribal Areas where he played a key role in stabilization efforts during various operations.
He was a Brigade Major of an infantry brigade and served as Chief of Staff of a Strike Corps. 
He instructed courses at PMA Kakul and the Command and Staff College, Quetta. General Bajwa has served as the Deputy Military Secretary to the President of Pakistan. Bajwa assisted General Pervez Musharraf in compiling his book "". 
In December 2010, he was promoted to the rank of a Major General. On 4 June 2012, Bajwa was appointed as the Director General of the ISPR.
On 22 September 2015, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General.
Lt. Gen. Asim Salim Bajwa, was appointed Inspector General Arms (IG Arms) at GHQ on 11 December 2016 until 28 September 2017. Then he was appointed Commander Southern Command of the Pakistan Army where he served from 2017 until 2019. He was instrumental in kick-starting and fast-tracking of numerous development initiatives in Balochistan.
He is the recipient of Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) and Tamgha-e-Basalat.
Post-Retirement Civil career.
After his retirement from Army, Bajwa was appointed as Chairman CPEC Authority as of November 26th, 2019. Establishment Division notified Bajwa as Chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority for a tenure of four years.
Political career.
In April 2020 Asim Bajwa was appointed as Special Advisor to Prime Minister (Imran Khan) on Information and Broadcasting. The SAPM are political appointments made by sole discretion of Prime Minister and have the rank of Minister of The State of Pakistan. Accomplished civilians with no political affiliations can also be appointed SAPM.
Asim Bajwa announced that he intends to resign from his post as Special Advisor to PM for Information and Broadcasting on 3rd September 2020, during interview with journalist on ARY News Channel. However, Prime Minister Imran Khan rejected his resignation.
On 12 October 2020, his resignation as Special Assistant to Prime Minister was accepted by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Controversy.
During the All-Parties Conference held on 20th September 2020, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif alleged that Asim Bajwa plotted to topple the Baluchistan government while still in uniform and serving as Commander Southern Command.He was also responsible for introducing Baluchistan Awami Party.
Assets declaration controversy.
As a Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan's government, Bajwa's asset declarations were made public on the Cabinet Division website public. He came under scrutiny for the valuations quoted and was top Twitter trending in Pakistan on July 19, 2020. Some of the dubious figures included 65 acres land for just Rs. 105000; and Toyota ZX 2016 valued at Rs. 3 million, a fraction of original value of the car.
Family Assets Growth controversy.
On 27 August 2020, an investigative report on FactFocus by journalist Ahmed Noorani, correlated assets of Asim Bajwa's wife and sons, along with his Military appointments and career growth under Military Dictator and President Pervez Musharraf, and then his appointment as Chairman CPEC Authority. Documents in the report listed ownership of 133 Papa John's franchises in the USA and UAE, together with several other properties in the USA, Canada, UAE, and Pakistan..
Asim Bajwa initially rejected the report completely. On 3rd September he admitted parts of the report and downplayed the numbers, strength and details of Business entities and Shares in the name of his Wife and Sons. He also indicated that his Wife's share of business assets outside Pakistan was divested and fully liquidated on 1st June 2020, prior to his Assets Declaration on 22 April 2020. According to Bajwa, the number of companies was not 99 but actually 31, the rest of companies were shell or representative companies in different regions. He further stated that all the companies purported to belong to his sons and wife, were either dormant since the formation, did a business of less than Rs. 500,000, were perpetually in loss, some were only registered as Sole Proprietorship with FBR, or never opened an office and any bank accounts. He promised to provide Money Trail and supporting documents to explain initial investments by his Wife, overseas Transfer of funds for business, Financial support to 3 sons studying in US schools and their business entrepreneurship.
Nadeem Bajwa, Faisal Bajwa and Malik Bajwa together are listed Principals of Bajco Global Management LLC in Canfield, OH. Bajco Global Management LLC was incorporated in 2007, before Bajwa became a military general, it has a revenue of US$ 69.85m and 1800 employees, operates 11 Subsidiaries and 75 companies as the Parent company, as of 3 September 2020. 
Asim Bajwa's brother Nadeem Bajwa is a successful businessman and is the Chief Executive Officer of BajCo Group LLC. BajCo owns several Papa John's outlets as well as Dairy Queen. 
On 23rd September 2020, the SECP (Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan) issued a summons notification to individuals allegedly involved in the data leak.
Personal life.
A member of the Bajwa clan, Asim Bajwa is married to Farrukh Zeba and has three children with her. His hobbies include reading and playing golf.
His sons are Muhammad Bajwa, Eusha Bajwa, and Azib Bajwa. Asim Bajwa has mentioned in his response to FactFocus report that his sons are graduates of US business schools.
Awards.
Bajwa has been decorated with the Tamgha-i-Basalat and Hilal-i-Imtiaz for his military services.
External links.
 