ISLAMABAD: Gen Mirza Aslam Beg has reiterated that the Pakistan army is fully geared and professionally prepared to meet the ‘‘challenges’’ confronting the country’s territorial integrity.
Addressing a garrison durbar in Sialkot, Beg said the army was fully alive to honoring its obligations coming in the wake of the “deteriorating situation” in Kashmir.
He said the unstinted support of the whole nation in this “hour of ordeal” had given added strength to the confidence of the army.
The army chief appreciated the morale of the troops when he met them in the forward areas and expressed his satisfaction at their vigil and preparedness in “‘thwarting the adventures of the enemy.”
Beg said Pakistan did not want war but at the same time could not remain ignorant of the needs of its national defense.
“Our forces today are better trained, more equipped and better motivated than ever before to thwart the nefarious designs of the enemy,” he said.
Several dallies today carried photographs of the general coming out of a trench in a forward area near Sialkot.
The army chief had last week stated that the ‘concentration of troops across the borders” was an act of intimidation and heightening tension.
He had also said that the Pakistan army had to take suitable measures to counter threats posed by the deployment Indian strike corps between Suratgarh and Bikaner 70 to 80 km off the borders.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 27, 1990
