Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday said unresolved disputes in South Asia were dragging the entire region into debt and poverty, in a veiled reference to the Kashmir issue.
Addressing a gathering on the final day of the Islamabad Security Dialogue, COAS Bajwa said the national security encompassed more than just matters and affairs related to strengthening the country’s security forces.
“It included development and human security as well,” he said.
“We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward,” he said, adding that the onus for meaningful dialogue rested with India.
“Our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in occupied Kashmir.”
“The world has seen the ravages of the world wars and the Cold War, wherein polarisation and neglect of virtues blighted the future and brought catastrophic consequences for humanity,” he said.
“Today the leading drivers of change in the world are demography, economy and technology. However, one issue that remains central to this concept is economic security and cooperation. Frayed relations between various powers centres of the globe and boomeranging of competing alliances can bring nothing but another stint of Cold War.”
Congratulating the National Security Division on organising the dialogue, Gen Bajwa stated that the contemporary concept of national security was not just about protecting countries from an external and internal threat.
It is also about providing a conducive environment for ensuring human security, national progress and development, he said.
The army chief’s comments come a a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan said that India would have to make the first move to normalise ties with Pakistan.
“We are trying, but India would have to take the first step and unless it does that we cannot move ahead,” the prime minister had said while inaugurating the Islamabad Security Dialogue.
