Sanctions on nuclear missile programme ‘Leadership correctly interprets aspirations of nation by giving strong response’

KARACHI: The Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, the President of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, the President of All Karachi Industrial Alliance, the Chairman of the FPCCI Advisory Board, Mian Zahid Hussain said that the country’s defence is a red line on which no compromise can be made.

He said that the country’s leadership has correctly interpreted the aspirations of the nation by giving a strong response to the sanctions on the nuclear missile programme.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that sanctions on Pakistan are nothing new and that the new sanctions will not affect the country’s defence or important decisions because showing any flexibility on them is tantamount to compromising sovereignty and disturbing the balance of power in the region.

He said no country can decide on Pakistan’s security and other needs. India considers Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programmes a significant obstacle to its regional dominance and that Pakistan did not start the race for nuclear technology. Still, some countries are trying to appease India at the cost of Pakistan, which will not be allowed.

He said that the primary purpose of our defence programme is to counter Indian aggression, which is why our missile programme is limited to South Asia. However, countries on the other side of the world consider it a threat to themselves, which is surprising.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that no country in the world tolerates terrorism, but Pakistan has always adopted a defensive strategy in this regard, for which it has had to pay a heavy price.

This year, 383 Pakistani soldiers and officers have been martyred in terrorist attacks, which are a significant loss; the business community salutes its martyrs.

Pakistan can destroy terrorist hideouts in neighbouring countries, but the dialogue has always been preferred in this regard. The recent martyrdom of sixteen soldiers is such a loss that a strong response was necessary. In this regard, terrorist hideouts in the neighbouring country were targeted, resulting in the death and injury of several terrorists. One of the reasons for this attack was that despite promises, the Afghan government was allowing its territory to be used for terrorism, which was causing irreparable damage to Pakistan, he observed.

He said that due to the increasing activities of the TTP and the collusion of the Afghan government, Pakistan was left with no option but to strike. At the same time, it is also a fact that the region can never develop in the presence of terrorism.

He further said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Army Chief have expressed their determination that they will not rest until terrorism is controlled as it has become a challenge facing the country.

He said that sentencing civilians to military courts is an internal matter of Pakistan, on which others have no right to interfere. Some politicians make a lot of noise against the courts, while during their rule, they always argue in favour of these courts. One hundred and eighty-one civilians were convicted in military courts in their stint in power.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024