PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif Friday said Pakistan’s defence forces have the capability to defeat the anti-country elements and they would always come up to people’s expectations of people. Addressing the passing-out parade at the PAF Academy Asghar Khan in Risalpur as the chief guest, Shehbaz said the nation was standing behind its armed forces like a solid rock, and it would continue to do so in future to defeat the evil designs of anti-Pakistan forces. The Prime Minister said Pakistan’s desire for peace should not be construed as its weakness and urged India to stop human rights violations in the occupied Kashmir.
There are no two opinions that despite resource constraints and numerous odds/challenges, the defence forces never disappointed people and strongly defended the cause of the motherland in the face of internal and external threats. The armed forces owe their successes to high standards of professionalism, combat readiness and the unmatched spirit of sacrifice for the cause of the country. It is also a reality that people of Pakistan always stood solidly behind their armed forces as they realized the need for a strong defence in the given regional security environment. No doubt, Pakistan was never in a position to enter into an arms race and this is particularly so now when the country was facing extreme financial crisis but investment in security and defence is worth-making. Internally, the armed forces are engaged in a renewed operation against resurging terrorism while there is no let up in external threats as the enemy is not only hatching conspiracies to weaken Pakistan but also remains in search of excuses to launch aggression. The enemy, which opted for an adventure in February 2019 and got a befitting response from Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is again hurling threats of pre-emptive strikes using baseless allegations as an excuse. We proposed then and reiterate, once again, that the country should spare more resources for modernization of both the PAF and the Pakistan Navy, as their role has increased in the modern-day war strategies. There should be greater emphasis on indigenous research and development and transfer of technology with the cooperation of some friendly countries. We also must not lose sight of the fact that the strong defence is also linked to a strong economy and therefore, wholehearted efforts should be made by all stakeholders to improve the economy.
