Rawalpindi (Web Desk): Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir on Friday said that the armed forces and the people of Pakistan are determined to foil the nefarious designs of country's foes.
The army chief was addressing a ceremony at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi today to mark the country’s 59th Defence Day, commemorating the sacrifices of fallen heroes of the 1965 war against India.
He was addressing the ceremony in connection with Defence and Martyrs Day at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.
The army chief said external forces, involved in fanning terrorism in Pakistan will not be allowed to succeed in their designs.
The strong bound between the people and the military is a guarantor of the country’s enemies’ defeat, the army chief said adding that the elements who create a rift between the army and the forces will have to face defeat as always.
Speaking about the newly launched Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, the army chief said it is not a new counter-terrorism drive but rather a part of the National Action Plan (NAP) wherein strategy was chalked out to root out terrorism and extremism from the country.
The COAS also clarified that displacement of the civilian population will not take place under the new counterterrorism drive.
“The determination to bring stability is inevitable for the national security. We will defeat the elements spreading hopelessness and anarchy with unity,” he added.
“The nefarious intentions to weaken the national unity will never be successful.”
He said that the state will “not allow political differences to turn into hatred” and that the strong relations between the army and the public will serve as the foundation to defeat any enemy trying to create rifts between the two.
The ceremony was attended by the army’s top brass, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), other senior military and governmental officials, and families of martyred soldiers, among others.