Pakistan does not want war with India: DG ISPR

Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor says JuD chief's house arrest a policy decision taken to safeguard national interest


News Desk January 31, 2017
Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor. PHOTO: ISPR

Pakistan does not want to engage in war with any country, DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor said on Tuesday.

Addressing the media, the head of military’s media wing said, Pakistan is not involved in stoking terrorism in Afghanistan.

The DG ISPR, however, warned India against mistaking “our desire for peace as weakness”. “India is working on a plan and that's why it staged a drama of surgical strike. Armed forces and the people are ready to respond to any misadventure by India.”

“Over 70,000 Pakistanis have sacrificed their lives since the launch of war against terror in Pakistan. We will continue to render sacrifices until the country is put on the desired level of progress,” head of military’s media wing, Major General Asif Ghafoor said while addressing a press conference in General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army.

Delving into the details of the anti-terror efforts, the DG ISPR said around 26,000 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) and combing operations have been conducted by the armed forces since the launch of war against terror. “Over 3,000 IBOs were conducted in Balochistan,” he said.

Maj-Gen Ghafoor said as a result of the effective campaign against terrorism launched by the Army in 2008-9, far-flung areas of the country including tribal areas have witnessed an improvement in the law and order situation. “At least 84 per cent of temporarily displaced persons from these areas have safely been repatriated,” he said.

Regarding house arrest of Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, Maj-Gen Ghafoor said it was a policy decision taken in the national interest. "Situation will become clearer in the days to come," he said.

Responding to a question on Afghanistan, the head of ISPR said Pakistan was not involved in terrorist incidents inside Afghanistan and would not allow its soil to be sued for such acts.

While several terrorists were killed in military operation Zarb-e-Azb, many fled to Afghanistan due to weak border system. However, new posts and border mechanism have been built along the Afghan border to check illegal crossing. “The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leadership has also found refuge in Afghanistan.”

Ghafoor went on to say that it is Pakistan’s desire that Afghanistan experiences better law and order, helping the refugees in Pakistan return to their homeland. “Armed forces are also working to break the nexus between Indian spy agency RAW and Afghanistan’s NDS in Balochistan.”

When asked about the case of missing bloggers, he said Pakistan Army has nothing to do with the disappearances of the bloggers.

“We do not think that the interior minister’s statement that he would talk to intelligence agencies to recover the missing bloggers, or saying that it’s not the state’s policy, was to implicate someone,” Maj-Gen Ghafoor said.

“A state has tools and instruments which it uses to implement a certain decision and we don’t think that the interior minister accused anyone [of involvement in disappearances].”

Armed forces and intelligence agencies are also part of the state and the bloggers were recovered as a result of the state’s efforts, the DG ISPR added.

COMMENTS (6)

specially | 7 years ago | Reply @Ahmar Khan: Nukes are the fools game in mordern world whenu have international pressure and politics in wars. So India have a upper hand over Pakistan and now they are realizing that they ccan't have proxy war with India
harkol | 7 years ago | Reply @Ahmar Khan: USA and USSR both had nukes. One of those countries doesn't exist today.
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