ISLAMABAD: The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Friday clarified that the statement of former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on “combat worthiness” was “quoted out of context”.

The military’s media wing issued the statement after discussions in the media on “Pakistan Army’s combat worthiness in view of the condition of certain weapon systems on its inventory.”

“To this end, views of former army chief on the future threat to Pakistan, which he shared with media persons in an off-the-record interactive session, have been quoted out of context,” said the ISPR.

The ISPR assured the people that the army will always take pride in its “operational preparedness and utmost combat worthiness.”

“Pakistan’s Armed Forces always did and will continue to keep their weapons, equipment and battle-hardened human resource ever ready for the defence of the motherland,” said the ISPR.

The statement comes after journalist Hamid Mir revealed in a TV show that General Bajwa (retd) in a meeting with 20-25 journalists had stated that Pakistan was not in a condition to fight a war with India.

Mir’s statement was picked up by Indian media and reported by major news outlets. During the last press conference of DG ISPR on April 25, a journalist asked the spokesperson of the Pakistan Army, Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, that prominent anchorperson Hamid Mir had revealed that former army chief Bajwa had given a briefing to the journalists along with him where he talked about the rusting of the tanks and the lack of fuel.

Responding to this, the DG ISPR said that the Pakistan Army is fully prepared as always and is capable of taking the fight to the enemy’s territory if required.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023