NSA stresses overcoming Pakistan’s perception problem

"No love stories are born out of use of force," Janjua says at international conference of news agencies

ISLAMABAD: National Security Adviser Lt-Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua on Sunday said Pakistan desires world peace and has always contributed to global stability but faces a perception problem in international media which needs to be corrected.

"There are also allegations on us of playing a ‘double game’ in Afghanistan. However, these perceptions are not based on reality," he said while addressing an international conference of news agencies in Islamabad.

The national security adviser said different perceptions existed about Pakistan in the world. “At times, it is considered a poor Muslim country that faces threats of extremism and terrorism. It is also dubbed as a nuclear country, where nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists,” he added.

“We all need to invest in peace instead of war. We want and we are working with the world in a cooperative framework,” Janjua remarked.



The two-day Conference entitled "Pakistan - Media Opportunities and Challenges" is being organised by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) to provide an opportunity to journalists for a direct and hassle-free linkage to cope with emerging competitive environment for news agencies in the world.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb was guest of honour on the occasion.

Janjua highlighted, in detail, the different intriguing dimensions of the Afghan conflict and said that ‘no love stories are born out of use of force’.

"Let's, collectively invest in peace and bring the closure to this perpetual conflict instead of wining it," he added.

The adviser also sensitised the participants over the regional security environment and stressed that the United States and the West should play a positive role in maintaining security of the region which over a period has become quite fragile.



Janjua highlighted character and role of Pakistan in recent history and the sacrifices rendered by the country in ongoing war against terrorism. Pakistan had lost over 60,000 lives and billions of dollars in the war, he added.

Nasser Janjua gave the delegation a detailed presentation on regional security situation with a particular reference to focusing on how Pakistan, its people armed forces, law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and intelligence agencies performed brilliantly and resiliently after 1979 and 9/11.

PHOTO: INP

"Afghanistan is a story of pains. It is a story of injuries. It is a wound of the world and also of region, which should be healed as quickly as possible," Janjua told the gathering which included delegates from around 15 countries.

"Every investment has been made to win Afghan war, but unfortunately we have not invested in winning peace," he said.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a lot of opportunities and have common economic future with a potential to connect to the markets of Europe, Africa and rest of Asia, said Nasser Khan Janjua.

Janjua said unfortunately, children of Afghanistan have seen nothing but war since 1979, whereas, Pakistan, after Afghanistan, is the most affected country hit by instability and insurgencies," adding that the people of Pakistan want to see Afghanistan as a peaceful, prosperous and stable country.

On the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the adviser said that it was only half of the China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) dream, with Afghanistan being the other half as it will connect Central Asia and Europe.

He said Pakistan believed that building of economic corridor was conducive to promoting connectivity and shared prosperity of the entire region and added Pakistan believed in cooperative relations with all its neighbours on the basis of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence.

"Pakistan, its people, armed forces and other LEAs have successfully fought insurgencies and militancy, and good news is that terrorism is decreased while peace is prevailing in the country," he added.