Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday (today) highlighted the significance of solving Kashmir issue, terming it as the ‘heart’ of Indo-Pak conflict.
Expressing his views at Islamabad Security Dialogue, Army Chief General Bajwa highlighted the need for peaceful solution of Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan and that it holds the key to regional peace and stability.
#Live: Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa addressing Islamabad Security Dialogue’ conference in Islamabad @OfficialDGISPR https://t.co/Q6XHeB27TP
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) March 18, 2021
On Kashmir Issue And India
Addressing the event, Army Chief underscored the need to ‘bury the past’ and move forward. Unsettled disputes are a major hurdle for development in South Asia, said the COAS.
South Asia lacks integration despite sufficient resources and lags behind in terms of trade, infrastructure, energy etc, he added.
General Bajwa noted that the solution to Kashmir issue is via peaceful means and that it remains vulnerable to politically charged aggression from the other side.
Furthermore, COAS urged international players to work towards convergence instead of divergence in an already polarized world.
On National Security, Arms Race, Extremism And Regional Peace
In addition to it, COAS General Bajwa also shed light on national security in modern times and noted that ‘connectivity’ is the key in today’s world of globalization and free information flow.
A country cannot ensure national security if it chooses to be isolated from the rest of the world, he said.
Today, national security comprises of various stakeholders and is not limited to the army, said General Bajwa.
Army Chief highlighted that despite multidimensional challenges in the region, Pakistan has refrained from indulging in an ‘arms race’ with country’s defence spending reflecting notable reduction.
Moreover, General Bajwa accentuated Pakistan’s exceptional success in tackling and neutralizing extremism and terrorism in the country and reiterated the resolve to continue the campaign against such threats.
Our long campaign against the tide of terrorism and extremism manifests our resolve and will, he said.
Pakistan will ensure its full support to Afghan peace process and intra-Afghan dialogue, and will facilitate Kabul in every way possible. Pakistan played a key role in signing of historic US-Taliban peace deal signed in 2020 last year, he said.
It is to be noted that PM Imran Khan spoke at the inaugural session of two-day Islamabad Security Dialogue on Wednesday a day earlier.
Addressing the threat of climate change, the premier said that it had the potential to overshadow everything else for upcoming generations.
Furthermore, the prime minister also underscored the issue of food security faced by Pakistan and reassured that that the government intends to launch a comprehensive programme in the coming weeks to duly address this issue.
The premier had also launched National Security Division’s Advisory Portal connecting over 100 think-tanks and university departments in Pakistan with policy makers.
