PESA lauds firm stance of COAS

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Association (PESA) on Monday lauded the firm stance of COAS General Raheel Sharif on the US drone attack that killed Taliban leader Mulla Akhtar Mansour.

The US attack on Mulla Akhtar Mansour was a well-orchestrated conspiracy against Pakistan which pushed away the Taliban from talks, it said.This was observed in a meeting of Executive Council of PESA presided over by its Senior Vice President, Vice Admiral Ahmad Tasnim.

The former military leaders said that the US attack was aimed at damaging the growing links between Pakistan and China and harm the CPEC which had hit peace efforts as well as cooperation against terrorism.Admiral Fasih Bokhari, Air Marshal Masood Akhtar, Lt Gen Naeem Akbar, Brig Mian Mahmud, Brig Javed Akhtar Khan, Brig Arbi Khan, Col Dalel Khan, Brig Masudul Hassan, Capt Akmal Shah (Navy), Capt Nawaz Ali (Chief Organiser Sindh), Ch Zia Naseem Ghumman and others participated in the meeting.

The former military leaders said Pakistan continues to strive for better relations with the US but it cannot compromise its relations with China to please any other power. Members stressed the need to develop relations with other nations of the region also, Russia and Iran in particular.

They criticised the US Senate for inclusion of a clause in the draft of financial support bill requiring certification from US government that force is not being used against elements that are demanding political freedom, which amounts to supporting Balkanisation of Pakistan. They noticed that anti-Pakistan trend in the US Congress and media shows that our sacrifices towards winning the Cold War have been thrown in dustbin. We are now being pressurised to follow America’s revised strategy in the region.