Country can also be defended through peace: Mukhtar

Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, underplaying the possibility of use of retaliatory force to deal with the US attacks in the tribal areas - a prospect raised by General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani on Thursday - has said that "it is not mandatory to defend the country by picking up the sword. A country can also be defended through peace."
"Only Pak Army has the authority to carry out operation against militants within the territorial borders of Pakistan and Armed Forces of Pakistan are fully capable of meeting any eventuality and safeguarding the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity", the Minister said while talking to journalists on Saturday after his meeting with Advisor to Prime Minister on Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi.
Mukhtar said that 80,000 Pakistani troops had been deployed at Pak-Afghan border and Pakistan would not allow anyone to attack its borders. He added that the government had lodged a strong protest against the US strikes and incursions in tribal areas and had declared that no such invasion would be tolerated in future.
The Defence Minister also stated that Pakistan had negotiated with the US State Department and Pentagon and they had assured the government that there would be no further attacks in future. He expressed the government's resolve that national frontiers of the country would be defended at all cost and external forces would not be allowed to violate Pakistan's sovereignty.
The Defence Minister said that America would not be able to continue attacks inside Pakistan as world pressure was mounting on them. "The world pressure is increasing on America and, hopefully, it would not able to continue these attacks." Pakistan had not given America permission to take any action or launch any operation inside the country, Ahmad Mukhtar said.
To a question, Ahmad Mukhtar said that the recent American attacks did not constitute a ground attack. Meanwhile, the Defence Minister and Advisor to Prime Minister on Religious Affairs Hamid Kazmi discussed the declining trend of petroleum prices in the international market and its impact on Haj fares. During the meeting, it was decided that the matter would be taken up at an appropriate level so that relief could be provided to the intending Haj pilgrims. They also exchanged views on US air strikes in North Waziristan Agency.
They were of the view that Pakistani forces themselves were capable of defending their territory against terrorism and that external forces should not strike inside the country. "Pakistan is the main sufferer of terrorism and it is in our own interest to make necessary arrangements to prevent such activities," they said.