Ready to fight at every moment, on any front

Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday asserted that there is no room for any more violent behaviour or extremism in Pakistan, adding that no person or group will be allowed to blackmail the state on the basis of regionalism, linguistics, ideology or religion. “No individual or group aside from the armed forces and law-enforcement agencies would be allowed to display weapons or use them,” the army chief said while addressing a ceremony on the occasion of Defence Day at the GHQ in Rawalpindi. President Arif Ali was the chief guest while all the three service chiefs and cabinet members were also present at the event. The army chief said Pakistan’s armed forces ‘are ready for any kind of internal and external threats’. “We have the capacity to fight conventional and non-conventional warfare, open and hidden enemies, if anybody wants to test us, they will find us ready at every moment and on every front,” he asserted. He said that Pakistan wants the Afghan leadership to resolve all issues through understanding and bring peace and prosperity to the Afghan people. “We also expect a stable and representative government in Afghanistan, respect for human rights, including women’s rights, and no use of Afghan soil against any other country,” he maintained. “At the same time, we expect that the world will not leave the Afghan nation alone in this difficult time, nor will it allow the country to fall victim to any humanitarian crisis. In this regard, Pakistan is ready to cooperate with every country in the world,” he maintained. “We want the security and development of the Afghan people and expect the major powers in the region and the world, including the United Nations, to play a positive role in bringing lasting peace to Afghanistan,” he said. “We are not only aware of the devastation of the war and the resulting hardships and sufferings of our Afghan brothers, but we can also feel the pain,” he added. General Qamar Javed Bajwa said Pakistan’s military is prepared to fight all internal, external, conventional and non-traditional challenges like hybrid warfare. “The purpose of fifth-generation warfare is to weaken the foundations and damage the national security of the country without engaging in a direct hot confrontation with the opponent nation,” he added. The COAS said the country’s enemies wants to achieve their nefarious designs through propaganda. “We are aware of the tactics and conspiracies of the external enemies but we have to deal with an iron fist with internal elements spreading chaos in the country,” he said. The army chief said Pakistan armed forces with the support of the people would thwart all evil designs of the enemies. He said the armed forces appear to be wall of sand without nation’s support as the strength of any country’s military relies on its nation. The army chief said Pakistan’s security and stability is linked to democracy. “To make it [Pakistan] more stable we have to ensure implementation on constitution and adopt principles of tolerance, justice,” he added. In the 21st century, the army chief said, there was a need to pursue a policy of geo-economics instead of geo-politics for the prosperity and welfare of the people. “Education, health, infrastructure development and climate change should be our priority,” he noted. Addressing the ceremony, President Dr Arif Alvi said freedom is a blessing and Pakistani nation achieved its freedom with the help of Allah and after a long struggle of elders. “In this journey for freedom, millions of families migrated and our mothers and sisters crossed bloods of river,” he said. “This is a reality that from day one our enemy has not accepted our freedom and sovereignty. After Pakistan got its freedom, it faced the aggression of India,” he recalled. “India waged conventional war against Pakistan and then targeted it through acts of terrorism. On other occasions, India tried different economic and diplomatic tactics,” he noted. He said despite all the efforts of Pakistan for peace, it faced issues in living with peace, dignity and honour, with its neighbour. President Alvi said time had come to accept the realities and a just solution of issues should be found as in it lies the security, progress and welfare of people of the two countries. “We salute the Kashmiri people for aspiring for freedom and for their sacrifices.”