Govt committed to NAP against terror: minister

Ijaz Shah says steps being taken to curb extremism and intolerance

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Brig (retd) Ijaz Shah on Friday said the implementation of the national action plan (NAP) against terrorism was among the government’s top priorities.

“The graph of terrorist activities has witnessed a gradual decline,” he told the participants of the Command and Leadership Programme 2020 at the National Defence University, Islamabad.

“This allowed the government to embark upon initiatives to curb radical tendencies, extremism and intolerance in the society through people-to-people and people-to-state initiatives,” he added.

The minister said the unprecedented success achieved against the scourge of terrorism had become a reality due to national resilience, effective state policies and sacrifices of the security and law enforcement apparatus.

However, he felt that fight against drivers of terrorism was a continuing process that required commitment and a national approach.

“The battle against terrorism has been won at an enormous human and financial cost,” he noted.

“The government is committed to taking all possible measures to prevent the country from going down the same abyss.”

Dwelling on the current regional environment, the minister felt that Indian intransigence over Kashmir had pushed the country into a tight corner. “Now their [India’s] policy pundits are looking for a false-flag operation to divert domestic and international attention and unify the widening cracks within the divisive society.”

Shah said the government stood shoulder to shoulder with the Kashmiri brethren in this difficult time.

“While we support the resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and UN resolutions, we stand prepared for all eventualities.”

The minister highlighted the significance of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He also spoke about the measures taken to ensure the security of projects associated with CPEC.

He dilated upon the Indian designs to derail the projects by aggravating law and order situation in Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan.

At the end, he gave a resume on how the prevailing pandemic could be exploited by terrorist entities especially the perils of online radicalisation and stressed on the need for proactive response measures.

The speech was followed by question and answer session and vote of thanks by the president of the National Defence University.

The event was part of the series of talks and briefings arranged during the course.