Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry Friday said Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has declared in categorical terms that army like all other institutions was bound to implement the policies framed by the government.
Talking to reporters outside the Parliament House, policy making was the privilege of the elected government but it has to take all the 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 the confidence of the masses.
About briefing to the prime minister and federal ministers at the GHQ, he said the army top brass briefed the delegation in detail on important security and defence related issues.
The minister said the cancellation of blasphemous caricature contest in Netherlands was a major diplomatic success for Pakistan. Pakistan responded to the development in close coordination with Turkey and other members of the Organization of Islamic Conference, he said, and added that 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 the 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.
The minister said Pakistan wants stability in Afghanistan. He said normalization of relations with India was on the 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 minister said Saudi Arabia was Pakistan’s strategic partner and “we have close relations with Iran as well.”
To another question, he said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was reflective of the 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 the Central Asian Republics.
Replying to a question, he said Punjab Minister Fiazul Hassan Chohan has already apologized for his controversial statement about the artists, who are identity of a nation.
Published in Daily Times, September 1st 2018.
