Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa will stay in his post for three more years after his current term ends in November. Prime Minister Imran Khan said in an order on Monday that the decision was taken due to the “regional security environment”.

Bajwa has been in the post since November 2016. The extension of Bajwa’s term came amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan over the former’s decisions on Jammu and Kashmir.

Bajwa had accompanied Khan on his first visit to the United States last month, where President Donald Trump had claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate in the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. India had denied the claim.

The Army chief was also appointed a member of the National Development Council by Khan.