Senators praised Pakistan Army’s role and acknowledged its sacrifices
Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Jawed Bajwa and other senior army officers briefed the Senate Committee of the Whole House on national security in an extraordinary in-camera session.
It was the first time in country’s history when an army chief gave the briefing to the Senators, The historic Senate session was presided by Chairman Senate of Pakistan Raza Rabbani which went for about four hours.
DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor, DG ISI Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar and DG Military Operations Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza also participated in Senate session with COAS General Qamar Jawed Bajwa.
The in-camera briefing went on for around four hours before coming to an end just after 3 pm. DG Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor briefed the media over the meeting.
According to DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor, General Qamar Bajwa reiterated army supports Pakistan’s democracy and is working within its constitutional boundaries.
COAS said the armed forces are well aware of external conspiracies and maintained that we should all work together to strengthen our country. The Gen Qamar Bajwa said that his briefing that it is a matter of honour for me to address an important parliamentary committee.
Major General Asif Ghafoor said all questions were asked on merit from the army chief and he gave comprehensive answers. Let it be known that the lawmakers in upper house had inquired COAS about national security.
According to sources, the army chief said that trips to certain countries are an important aspect of military diplomacy and that the military is paying close attention to the geostrategic situation in the region.
He further said we cannot ignore the changes that are taking place in Afghanistan, border management is necessary to protect the Pak-Afghan border.
The Senate was further told that as many as 274 cases have been tried in the military courts out of which 161 culprits have also been awarded death sentences and 56 have already been hanged. Out of the total 13 militants were hanged before Operation Raddul Fasaad and 43 after the operation commenced.
The in-camera session of the committee of the upper house was constituted on the motion moved by Leader of the House and PML-N Senator, Raja Zafarul Haq, to prepare policy guidelines for future regional challenges and the role of the United States.