Tuesday, July 13, 2010

‘All needs of armed forces will be met despite constraints’

* Gilani says Pakistan will maintain minimum credible deterrence
* PM inaugurates naval war games Shamsheer-e-Behr

Staff Report

KARACHI: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday said that despite financial constraints, the government was committed to meeting all requirements of the armed forces.

Addressing the opening of the Shamsheer-e-Behr war games aboard the PNS Jauhar, the PM said the Pakistani government considered no sacrifice too great for securing the ideals of freedom and prosperity for its people.

He also stressed the need for maintaining credible deterrence to face any aggression against the country.

He praised the naval war games, saying they had been designed on realistic settings and by taking into account emerging realities. He said the support of the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Air Force for the operations was vital for the war game.

He said that such exercises provided a forum to develop new concepts of war craft through extensive research for meeting existing and future challenges.

The PM expressed his confidence that the lessons learnt from the exercise would be utilised and further refined to formulate an effective and responsive naval strategy in future.

Gilani said that he was fully aware of the importance of sea routes for the economic well-being of a maritime nation. “The Pakistan Navy is fully capable of safeguarding our maritime interests,” he said.

The PM said the development of the Gwadar port and the coastal highway would speed up the development process in the country’s coastal areas.

Gilani also pointed towards Pakistan’s unique geo-strategic location and said that Pakistan considered it an obligation to secure its area of responsibility from all sorts of threats. He assured that government would provide all resources required for safeguarding Pakistan’s maritime interests.

Naval Staff Operations Deputy Chief Vice Admiral Abbas Raza then presented an overview of the war game, outlining the objective set forth and the concepts to be tried. He said that the event was Pakistan Navy’s flagship war game that was held biennially. He said personnel from the other two branches of the armed forces, as well as officials of the government departments concerned were also participating in the war game.

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majeed, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Noman Bashir, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan and Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah were also present on the occasion.

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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