Army to implement policies framed by govt: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad said on Friday that Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa told Prime Minister Imran Khan in categorical terms that like other institutions army was bound to implement policies framed by the government.

Talking to newsmen outside Parliament House here he said, policy-making was the privilege of the elected government but it has to take all stakeholders on board. He said the PTI government would formulate policies after getting input from other relevant institutions. He said the state policies should enjoy confidence of the masses.

About briefing to the prime minister and federal ministers at the GHQ, he said the army top brass briefed them on important security and defence related issues.

The minister said the prime minister remarked that the country was confronting major challenges which can only be tackled through a joint strategy.

The cancellation of blasphemous caricature contest in Netherlands was a major diplomatic success of Pakistan, he said adding that Pakistan responded to the development in close coordination with Turkey and other members of the Organization of Islamic Conference.

The minister, however, added that there was a need for a global strategy to tackle such issues. He said only a handful of elements in the West create fissures by raising such issues repeatedly. He said majority of people in the Western world including government of Netherlands were against blasphemous caricatures. He said such controversies injure sentiments of over two billion Muslims all over the world and therefore, laws should be framed by the West against such provocative actions.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the Foreign Minister to raise the issue at the United Nations.

Fawad Hussain said Pakistan wants stability in Afghanistan and normalization of relations with India was important agenda of the present government. He said instead of confrontation, the two countries should fight their common enemies poverty and ignorance.

To a question, the information minister said Saudi Arabia was Pakistan’s strategic partner and we also have close relations with Iran.

About China, he said, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was reflective of geo-economic partnership of the two countries. He said the PTI government was committed to completion of CPEC projects.

The minister said Pakistan also wants to maintain good ties both with the United States and the Russian Federation and would welcome their investment in Pakistan. He said the dream of Prime Minister Imran Khan to take people out of poverty line cannot be realized without increased interaction with Central Asian Republics.

Replying to a question, he said that Punjab Minister Fiazul Hassan Chohan has already apologized for his controversial statement about the artists who are identity of the nation.