ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stated that Pakistan’s desire to maintain peace with neighbours must not be misunderstood as its weakness.
Addressing the graduation parade of cadets at Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Academy (Asghar Khan) at Risalpur on Friday, he said that the academy has been grooming the future assets of the nation and its leadership was making earnest efforts over the years in this regard.
He said that the PAF academy is producing a truly hi-tech Air Force, a force which is second to none around the globe as envisioned by the father of the nation in April 1948.
The prime minister said that Pakistan is a peace-loving nation and wishes to maintain friendly and peaceful relations with all countries, especially the neighbours. However, he said that Pakistan’s desire for peace must not be misunderstood as its weakness.
The premier said that the most recent example of the PAF’s professionalism was Pakistan’s befitting response to the Indian aggression in February 2019. He said that the whole world saw how brave sons of the soil humiliated the Indian Air Force in a show of exceptional skill and expertise.
He said that in the last two decades, no nation was tested by the combination of challenges such as terrorism, extremism and militarism the way Pakistan has. The forces and law enforcement agencies have risen to the challenge and neutralised the threat to national security.
He said: “We live in challenging times that are being shaped by the evolving regional and global environment and the interplay of geopolitical and geo-economic factors are having profound effects on the world.
He said he is aware of the cost of living crisis has added to woes of the people and adversely affected all walks of life and the government cannot leave the people at the mercy of the global market’s disruption.
He stressed the need to build resilience to protect the economy from global shocks which is possible only by introducing structural reforms in the economy to make it sustainable. He said that the government make all efforts to bring the economy back on track.
The prime minister said that there can be no peace in South Asia without a just and fair resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN resolutions.
Pakistan condemned the grave human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmiri and urged the world to take note of the illegal changes introduced by India in post-August 2019, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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