NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has undergone a structural shift from a loosely federated system of competing directorates to a more centralised command model, with control increasingly flowing through its internal coordination hub and the office of its chief. The change has taken shape under Lt Gen Asim Malik, who currently holds the dual roles of Director General of the ISI and National Security Adviser. This arrangement has effectively merged intelligence assessment with policy coordination.
The recent acceleration in these changes follows lessons the military leadership drew from India’s Operation Sindoor (2025), as well as continued operational losses from the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan-based insurgent groups.
The restructuring is also aimed at professionalising the system and enabling faster, more coordinated responses in line with evolving engagements, especially with the United States and China. Malik, who holds a PhD in strategic studies focusing on U.S.-Pakistan relations, is seen by officials as someone equipped to engage more effectively with Washington, particularly as the restructuring seeks closer alignment with external partners.
Traditionally, the ISI has operated through multiple semi-autonomous wings handling external operations, domestic political intelligence, counter-intelligence, and region-specific desks. These generated parallel streams of intelligence that were consolidated internally and passed through multiple layers before reaching the decision-making table.
At the centre of this more tightly integrated system is Joint Intelligence X (JIX), the directorate responsible for integrating inputs from across the agency. Heading JIX is a Major General who acts as a primary gatekeeper of the agency’s information flow. While JIX historically functioned as a coordination mechanism, its role has expanded under the current configuration, with its head emerging as the principal filter through which intelligence is synthesised and transmitted upward. This restructuring has significantly altered internal power balances, as the JIX coordination layer has moved from a secretarial function to a dominant filtering and routing authority.
Counter-intelligence and internal security functions have assumed greater importance in a system prioritising control and coherence. Simultaneously, domestic intelligence units tracking political and internal stability are now more tightly integrated into the national security framework. By contrast, operational wings handling external activity, including those traditionally associated with long-cycle covert operations, now function within a tighter command structure, reducing their independent room for manoeuvre.
Among senior officers with prior exposure to key operational desks is Lt Gen Muhammad Hassan Khattak, currently serving as Quartermaster General, who earlier headed the ISI’s Kashmir desk. It is worth noting that Field Marshal Asim Munir also served as Quartermaster General from October 2021 to November 2022, immediately before being appointed Chief of Army Staff.
This consolidation in the ISI chief’s office has reduced the number of institutional layers between intelligence generation and policy response, marking a departure from the earlier model where internal competition among ISI wings, combined with a separate national security advisory structure, created multiple points of interpretation. Although the military has long exercised dominant influence over Pakistan’s security apparatus, the previous arrangement still allowed for a degree of layered processing within the system, which has now been significantly reduced.
The shift comes amid a changing security environment that places a premium on faster decision-making and tighter coordination at a time of internal political strain and evolving external pressures.
