RAWALPINDI: Defence Minister Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar said on
Wednesday that Pakistan reserves the right to defend sovereignty that
comes first in regional security and peace.
“The world should
not forget that we are an atomic power, and in addition to that we have
impregnable arrangements of our defense,” the Minister said while
talking to a select group of journalists at Rawalpindi CMH.
He
visited the Combined Military Hospital to inquire about the health of
injured GCO Swat Major General Javed Iqbal. The Minister also inquired
about on behalf of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf
Raza Gilani that according to him were preoccupied with convening of
All Parties Conference.
Answering a question, the Minister said, “We all, civilians as well as soldiers, are one as part of the Pakistani brethren.”
That
is why, he added, “No one could dare to do any misadventure undermining
our sovereignty.” He said, “We want to give this message through the
APC that we are one in defending our sovereignty and independence. And
this is not the message from me or the government alone but this is the
message from the entire nation.”
The Minister rubbished all
allegations of complicity saying “We have said already and I’m saying
it again that our forces have no connections with Haqqani network,” he
reiterated. The Minister was of the view that there was no tension of
the sort as it was being portrayed in the media hype.
Earlier,
talking to the journalists, the Major General said, “We were flying
over the Upper Dir area and burst of bullets came from Kunar province
of Afghanistan. One of the bullets injured my leg after passing through
the body of helicopter,” he added.
In the face of aggressive
accusations levelled by various American high-ups, Pakistan has
repeatedly said that it had taken up the cross-border incursions from
the Afghan side with both the government and the ISAF in Afghanistan.
The bullet coming up from the Afghan province, Kunnar, that injured
Pakistani soldier none less than a Major General is an open evidence of
Pakistani claims of cross border incursions getting reinforcement by
international forces in Afghanistan. Online
