Shahid Karimullah

Shahid Karimullah
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service/branch	Pakistan Navy (P No. 1126)
Years of service	1968 – 2005
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Commander 25th Destroyer Squadron Additional Secy at Ministry of Defence DCNS (Operations) Commander Pakistan Fleet (COMPAK) Chief of Naval Staff Commandent of Marine Corps
Battles/wars	1971 Indo-Pakistani War
Awards	Sitara-i-Jurat Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military) Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) Légion d'honneur
Other work	Pakistan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

Admiral Shahid Karimullah, NI(M), SJ, is the former Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) who commanded Pakistan Navy from 2002 to 2005 and later served as Pakistan's ambassador to Saudi Arabia from October 2005 to May 2009. On both the occasions, Karimullah was preceded by Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza.

Naval career

Admiral Karimullah's family belongs to Hyderabad Deccan and he is a son of (late) Lt. Commander Mohammed Karimullah. He was commissioned in Pakistan Navy's operations branch in 1968 after undergoing training as a communication specialist. After his training, Karimullah was selected for the Special Service Group Navy, and underwent into a rigorous military training along with Special Service Group. His unit was further sent to United States for the training where he was trained along with U.S. Navy SEALs. Karimullah is a graduate of the United States Naval War College, and Pakistan National Defence College.

Command and staff appointments

Admiral Karimullah commanded two destroyers, the 25th Destroyer Squadron and the Pakistan Fleet. Lieutenant Karimullah was selected for the Special Service Group Navy and had commanded a small team of SSGN in the conflict. He fought the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 while commanding a gunboat in erstwhile East Pakistan where he was seriously wounded in action and awarded Sitara-i-Jurat for exceptional gallantry.

His major staff appointments include Additional Secretary at Ministry of Defence, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) and Director Signals at the Naval Headquarters. He has also served as Chief Staff Officer to the Commander Pakistan Fleet and Directing Staff at the National Defence College. He was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral while holding the appointment of Commander Pakistan Fleet (COMPAK).

Chief of Naval Staff

Upon ascension to Chief of Naval Staff in 2002, Karimullah superseded at least one senior officer Vice Admiral Taj Muhammad Khattak who was the Vice Chief of Naval Staff (VCNS). He was replaced by Admiral Afzal Tahir as the naval chief when he was due to retire in 2005. Karimullah himself replaced the former naval chief Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza when he took over as Pakistani ambassador to Saudi Arabia in 2005. He vacated the ambassadorship in May 2009.

Besides, Sitara-i-Jurat, Karimullah is a recipient of Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military), Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military), and Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military). In addition, he was decorated with French Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour) on 13 July, 2005 "for promoting Pakistan-French naval collaboration in various fields at different posts he held during his service career, including induction of French submarines and aircraft in Pakistan Navy."

External links

• Admiral Shahid Karimullah takes over as Navy chief
• Profile of Shahid Karimullah
• Karimullah new Naval chief