RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday rejected the claims made by Indian army chief that India carried out ‘surgical strikes’ on Pakistan.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief Major Genearl Asif Ghafoor tweeted that General Bajwa rejected the claim of India’s Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, who in a recent interview had said that the ‘so-called surgical strikes’ were meant to ‘send out a message’
‘Pakistan’s armed forces are fully geared to respond to any aggression by India,’ Gen Asif Ghafoor quoted Bajwa as saying. The army chief also turned down the possibility of re-occurrence of any such attack, which the Indian army chief had hinted.
Earlier in the day, while addressing a gathering in Khuzdar, the Army Chief praised the people of Balochistan for assisting the law enforcement agencies (LEA) in maintaining the law and order situation in the province
‘Over the past few years, Pakistan Army and other LEAs, with full support of people of Balochistan have contributed immensely to shape the environment for undertaking this vital national project,’ the Army Chief said according to a statement released by ISPR.
The army chief was addressing a day-long national seminar titled, ‘Economic Development through new Silk Route via Khuzdar: Way forward to national integration’.
The Army Chief proposed that a people-centric approach based on local ownership should be adopted as far as securing the ongoing developmental activity and future trade in Balochistan.
‘As far as the security of ongoing developmental activity and future trade running through the province are concerned, we should adopt a people-centric approach, based on local ownership,’ said General Bajwa.
General Bajwa further stated that one of the key aims of the army’s effort is ‘national integration’.
‘Balochistan unfortunately had been neglected in the past for host of reasons, but not anymore. The military has contributed significantly to bring Balochistan into the main stream,’ Bajwa said, adding more than 20,000 men from Balochistan are currently serving the army.
But the army’s effort has been ‘more diverse than its security role’ in the province, the army chief said, elaborating that some 25,000 students are enrolled in various army-run educational institutions in Balochistan.
At the occasion, the army chief announced that National University of Sciences and Technology campus will be established in Balochistan. A Chinese language centre as well as a National University of Modern Languages campus will also be established in the province. News Desk/Agencies
