Sunday, Jun 15, 2003
Sunday, Jun 15, 2003 |
| International | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | International
By B. Muralidhar Reddy
He made these observations on the occasion of his first visit to Joint Staff Headquarters in Rawalpindi. Though it is no more than a "pro forma statement", yet it acquires significance in the context of the repeated statements of the Deputy Prime Minister, Lal Krishna Advani, in the last few days about the continuing terrorist threat from Pakistan and the coming visit of the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, to the United States. Mr. Jamali told the senior army officers that being a frontline coalition partner, Pakistan had proven to the international community that "we are a responsible nation of 140 million people." ``We recognise our international responsibilities and commitment to eradicate this menace from the face of earth and would continue to do so unconditionally,'' the Prime Minister said. He said that an impregnable defence was the top-most priority of his Government. ``The Government is very much aware of the emerging geopolitical environment in the region and its influence on the security of Pakistan. Therefore all efforts would be made to attain and maintain required defence capability,'' Mr. Jamali said. On Friday, Mr. Jamali had ruled out the chances of an immediate summit meeting between him and the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and said that talks at the high-level would take place after a meeting of the Foreign Secretaries of both the countries. "No immediate meeting with Prime Minister Vajpayee is on my current agenda,'' he told the reporters. Efforts were on to pave the way for talks between the two countries. He said: "Let the meetings between the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries take place, after which the stage would be set for high-level talks between the two countries." In Rawalpindi, Mr. Jamali said that Pakistan had no intention of getting into an arms race with any country, nor did it have any aggressive designs. Pakistan was a peace-loving country and desired peaceful coexistence with all its neighbours. "However, we must remember that our strength lies not in numbers and quantity, but in faith, unity and discipline. Highest standards of training and professionalism of our armed forces backed by national resolve is our deterrence against aggression,'' Mr. Jamali said. In a related development the Pakistan Air Force was given a modern radar system, acquired from China, in a ceremony on Saturday at the Faisal airbase. The Chief of the Air Staff, Saadat Kalim, was the chief guest. The defence attache{sbquo} of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan and other dignitaries attended it.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
