Daily Times

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa Tuesday said Pakistan will continue to play its responsible and positive role for regional peace without compromising national security and defence of the motherland.

“Pakistan is one of the lead participations with significant contributions towards peace and stability efforts in the region. We shall continue to play our responsible and positive role towards this end without compromising national security and defence of the motherland at whatever cost,” the COAS said while chairing the 228th Corps Commanders Conference here at the General Headquarters.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, the conference reviewed geo-strategic, regional and national security environment and discussed internal security, situation along borders, Line of Control (LOC) and Indian-held Kashmir (IHK). It also reviewed evolving security situation in the Middle East with reference to the US-Iran standoff and its implications on regional peace and stability.

Taking account of repeated provocative statements of Indian military leadership regarding aggression against Pakistan, the forum termed it an irresponsible rhetoric with implications on regional peace and stability.

On Saturday, India’s new army chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane had said that the Indian army will move to claim Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) if it is given orders in this regard by the parliament.

The Foreign Office in Islamabad had denounced Naravane’s statement as reckless, saying, “We reject the new Indian army chief’s irresponsible statement regarding ‘pre-emptive strikes’ across the LoC inside Azad Jammu and Kashmir.”

DG ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor had also responded to the Indian army chief’s threatening statements, saying Gen Naravane “knows full well the situation in the region and the capability of the Pakistan Army. He was part of the Indian force on Feb 27 as well. So he’s not new.” Maj Gen Ghafoor had expressed the hope that Naravane “will no longer let go of reason”. “The Pakistan Army knows how to defend the country and India also knows this,” he had said at the time. Tensions between Pakistan and India had spiked sharply after New Delhi annexed occupied valley of Kashmir on August 5 last year by revoking the region’s special constitutional status.