government that has launched the counterterrorism campaign from which the previous regimes shied away. And Raheel Sharif said the operational steps should have been taken ‘yesterday’.
The chief declared that the counterterrorism operations will not be reversed at any cost and action will also be taken against those impeding the drive. This is precisely what the premier has stressed on all occasions.
There is also agreement between the government and the army that more is required to be done to declare final victory. The army chief also said that a lot needs to be done regarding the operation and the situation needs to be handled prudently.
During his visits to Karachi and on other points, Nawaz Sharif has spoken about a stern action against the supporters and abettors of the terrorists. The army chief stated in Washington that all and any terrorism “facilitators, sympathisers and supporters need to be taken to task.”
There are also no two opinions on the massive sacrifices rendered by the army personnel and civilians during the operations, but they have not affected the pace and speed of the campaign in any way. Raheel Sharif said a great many sacrifices have been made not to slow down or turn back.
Across the board consensus also prevails that the operations in the tribal areas, Karachi and other parts of Pakistan have made the country safer. This became possible only because of the fact that all the key concerned state institutions including the parliament, political forces, superior judiciary and army came on the same page. Everyone agrees without even slightest reservation that the operation Zarb-e-Azb has become a success story as the army chief put it.
Undoubtedly, the China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) is, among others, is the most significant flagship venture of the Nawaz Sharif government that it wants to complete at all costs. The Gwadar port has also the same importance for it. The prime minister frequently talks about them. Raheel Sharif said development projects like Gwadar and Reko Diq will ensure economic progress and the CPEC will materialise in a couple of years.
The prime minister regretted in Khanewal that the process of development was halted after 1999 (martial law imposed by General Pervez Musharraf) and Pakistan was (later) plunged into many problems including terrorism and power outages.
While Raheel Sharif’s speech to the Pakistani community audience certainly disappointed the conspirators as he did not touch the issues that they wanted him to speak on, back home Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan dismissed the perception about strain in civil-military relations and took on the elements churning out such rumours, expecting a political quake. He refrained from identifying such schemers although time has come to pinpoint them publicly so that they are exposed to all and sundry once again and are appropriately punished.
His remarks emitted a feel-good impression contrary to what intriguers wish people to believe. The minister tried to puncture their view when he described the civil-military understanding as Pakistan’s strength and said there was no civil-military divide and everything was normal.
While anti-democracy elements had desperately attempted to present the army chief’s US visit in a different light as per their wishful thinking, Chaudhry Nisar said Raheel Sharif did not embark on the trip on his own and a summary for it had been moved, that was approved by the prime minister.