No emergence of new terrorists: Gen Raheel

LONDON: The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), General Raheel Sharif, has said the Pakistan Army and the government would not allow the emergence of new terrorists in the war against terror going on in the country.
He stressed that Pakistan wanted good relations with India but with “dignity and respect”.
The army chief was addressing a reception hosted in his honour by Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK Syed Ibne Abbas. Around 300 members of the British Pakistani community, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, representatives of the civilian and military leadership of the British government and parliamentarians attended the event.
The COAS said that Pakistan wanted good relations with its neighbour India but he made it clear that there would be no compromise on the respect and dignity of Pakistan.
Raheel Sharif was given a rousing reception when he shared how the Pakistani authorities had taken on militants with full might and “without any discrimination at any level”. He vowed, “Defeat is not an option” in the Operation Zarb-e-Azb that had been launched against the enemies of Pakistan.
The chief of the army staff stressed that the current operations in various parts of Pakistan were against the terrorist elements and those involved in criminal activities. “If you are feeling the heat, do not worry as this indiscriminate operation is only intended against the masterminds, the facilitators, the financers and the perpetrators of terrorism and their sleeper cells in Pakistan.”
He invited the audience to visit Pakistan and witness for themselves that the country was a much safer place now than a year ago.
General Raheel Sharif said Pakistan had also made all-out efforts to build and maintain friendly ties with its another neighbour, Afghanistan. The COAS shared how he had sent General Rizwan Akhtar to Afghanistan within hours of his appointment as the spy chief as a demonstration to Afghanistan that Pakistan wanted to fully support the Afghan government. The army chief said that it was Pakistan’s view that a stable and free Afghanistan was good for Pakistan.
On the law and order situation, General Raheel Sharif pointed out that some time back there prevailed a sense of hopelessness across the country but “we restored peace in all parts of the country including Karachi” and the situation had turned from “hopelessness to hope”. Quoting statistics, the army chief said that around 250 law and order related incidents took place every month a year ago but that figure was down to just “10 to 15 incidents a month now which represents a huge change and progress achieved as a result of the unwavering commitment towards fighting terrorism and bringing peace.”
He said the military operation Zarb-e-Azb against the local and foreign terrorists proved successful. The operation still continued and would be carried on till complete elimination of the terrorists, he added.
“Operation Zarb-e-Azb has been a great success and it has been clear in its aim of ridding Pakistan of the menace of terrorism. This operation has brought a change and it’s visible. The credit for the success of this operation goes to the armed forces as well as to the people of Pakistan who have shown great support for the operation against extremists and terrorists.”
The army chief said that the decision to launch the Operation Zarb-e-Azb was taken only after exhausting all options of dialogue. “I knew from the beginning that we have to effectively deal with the menace of terrorism head-on but we gave a chance to dialogue first and later on everyone agreed with my view.”
The army chief said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is a game changer in the region, would benefit not only Pakistan but also the entire region.
The army chief assured the community that all means and every resource would be utilised to go after those elements who wanted to play with the security of Pakistan and wanted to harm it. He said that the “only way forward is victory”.
The army chief said there had been superb achievements against terrorism but there were huge challenges too. He counted as number one the challenge of return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their original places. He said that nearly one million people left their homes and it was the aim of the Pakistani government that they were rehabilitated properly. He said the work on this was going ahead. He said that there was a danger that terrorists could return to the cleared areas at a later time but he said the army would stay around and no miscreant would be allowed to play with the gains that had been made as a result of the operation.
The army chief thanked the UK government for its support to Pakistan, including dealing with the IDPs’ issues. He said the good relations between the UK and Pakistan were manifest at many levels and added that he had had “fruitful and productive” dialogue with his counterpart and others during his current visit.
The army chief particularly thanked the overseas Pakistanis for their support to Pakistan in all times and assured them that Pakistan’s law reinforcement agencies were doing everything to make Pakistan a safe and open place.
The High Commission of Pakistan had invited representatives of all the Pakistani groups from across the UK. The COAS went to tables of all the guests, shook hands with each and every guest and listened to their views and concerns.
The guests on the occasion told the COAS that he had become popular because he had shown total commitment to the cause of restoring peace in Pakistan by taking on militants all over Pakistan. The community members told the COAS that the overseas Pakistanis stood behind their armed forces in the war against terror and applauded the fact that Pakistan’s armed forces were making sacrifices to make Pakistan peaceful and prosperous.