PM, army chief discuss national, regional security

Meeting comes hours after China sprang to Pakistan’s defence against Indian PM’s tirade at BRICS statement

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Monday at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad.

According to a statement, matters pertaining to national and regional security were discussed during the meeting.

The meeting came just hours after China sprang to Pakistan’s defence after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi branded the country a “mother-ship of terrorism” at a summit of BRICS nations. Modi’s remarks to a meeting of leaders from BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – escalated his diplomatic drive to isolate Pakistan, which India accuses of sponsoring cross-border terrorism.



Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours have been running high since a September 18 attack on an army base in Kashmir, near the disputed frontier with Pakistan, killed 19 Indian soldiers in the worst such assault in 14 years.

China and Pakistan consider each other all-weather friends and have close diplomatic, economic and security ties.