Pakistan Army Is Capable And Ready To Face Any Challenge, Bajwa Doctrine Does Not Mention 18th Amendment Or Judiciary: DG ISPR

The DG ISPR said the Army chief's talk in the informal meeting with anchorpersons was off-the-record. "I take the pride that most of the anchors respected the norms of media interaction in that off-the-record conversation,"

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Mar, 2018 ) :The DG ISPR said the Army chief's talk in the informal meeting with anchorpersons was off-the-record. "I take the pride that most of the anchors respected the norms of media interaction in that off-the-record conversation," he said, adding but some mediapersons, who were not even present in that meeting wrote articles and did programmes.

He said the Army chief never said as a whole that 18th amendment was not good. He said the 18th amendment did several good things such as giving powers to the provinces. Talking about the successful staging of eliminators and final match of the third edition of Pakistan Super League in Lahore and Karachi, he said it showed that the security situation in the country had improved.

"This year has been very eventful in Pakistan. The PSL matches and March 23 (parade) were held. All went well and the good thing was that the people participated with great passion," he said. He said the cricket fans in Karachi, during PSL final, were very well organized and disciplined.

"This was a proud moment for public, rangers, security organizations and intelligence agencies," he added He appreciated Chairman Pakistan Cricket board Najam Sethi's role in bringing back cricket activities to the country.

"The Gaddafi Stadium has been renovated and same is the case with National Stadium Karachi. I have talked to PCB chief that the next year's event should be planned in a way that some matches also take place in Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan and Peshawar." He said law and order situation in Karachi was very different from that of 2013.

"There were 70 no-go areas in Karachi in 2013, but as of today there is none. The shutter-down strikes are also no more there. "In the year 2017, around 386 political activities took place in Karachi but not a single violent incident took place.

Hotel occupancy is back to 100 per cent. Karachi Stock Exchange is also going up. Social events are being held. There will be a film festival happening on the 30th of this month," he added. He, however, said there was still more to be done to take the things forward.

The DG ISPR lauded the role and sacrifices rendered by the country's security agencies in improving the law and order situation. Highlighting the success of the ongoing operation Raddul Fassad, he said 26 major operations and 23,318 intelligence based operations were conducted.

"If we are successful today it is because of the intelligence agencies such as ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), MI (Military Intelligence) and IB (Intelligence Bureau). We should be proud of them," he said.

He said the intelligence agencies busted seven major terrorist networks, namely Ansarula Sharia, Jamatul Ahrar Kurram, TTS Lahore, TTP Swabi TTs Dir/Swat chapter and Intiqam-e-waziristan group.

He said the Chief of Army Staff's meeting with others were a routine matter.

He said in response to some claims made by a section of press a few days ago that the Chief Minister Punjab twice met Army chief twice in 72 hours, the ISPR had given clarification that no such meeting took place.

He said Army had nothing to do with any sort of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). He said the chief minister Punjab had called the Army chief and offered financial support for fencing along Pak-Afghan border.

Major General Asif Ghafoor also talked about Indian ceasefire violations and said it (India) was behaving like an irresponsible state. He said Pakistan had played a positive role for peace in the region, adding efforts to promote instability in Pakistan would also not be in India's favour.

He said Pakistan's response capability should not be underestimated. He said Pakistan enjoyed close ties with Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE). He said the Army chief visited Saudi Arabia and held talks there.

He said since 1982, Pakistan had a bilateral pact with Saudi Arabia, adding Pakistani troops would be sent to Saudi Arabia as part of that pact but they had nothing to do with Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition.

He said it was not only Saudi Arabia that Pakistan had a bilateral agreement, but Pakistan had such agreements with other Gulf States as well. "Even Iranian pilots are receiving training in Pakistan," he said.

Regarding Pakistan-US relations, he said there was no stalemate in talks with the US. He said Pakistan had played a key role in the war against terrorism and for bringing peace in the region. He said situation became complex after the US President Donald Trump tweeted about Pakistan earlier this year, adding the US needed to recognize Pakistan's role in facilitating rapprochement between the US and China in 1970s, helping the US in becoming unipolar power and assisting it in Afghanistan.

He said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would bring prosperity for the entire region. "If India sees it as a threat, it will negatively affect the region. If our contributions are seen as negative, this will affect the region's stability," he added.

He said operations in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were going on successfully and that was why the army had shifted its focus towards the betterment of Balochistan. He said water, electricity and communication were the three basic issues of Balochistan and efforts were being made for the welfare of the province under Khushhal Balochistan project.