Islamabad: For the second time in less than a week Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif, on Friday, vowed to defend “each and every inch” of Pakistan, as tensions with India run high.
The country’s armed forces have the capability to counter the complete spectrum of threat, he said while addressing officers at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre near Kharian in Punjab province.
They are fully prepared to defend “each and every inch of Pakistan, no matter what the cost”, he said, according to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement.
Sharif said that Pakistan had, despite being a victim of terrorism for over a decade, been able to turn the tide against terrorism due to the nation’s resilience and the professionalism of its security forces.
During his visit to the counter-terrorism centre, the army chief inaugurated state-of-the-art upgrades to the infrastructure to accommodate the growing demand of foreign armies and Pakistan’s own law enforcement agencies to train alongside the Pakistan army, the statement said.
The addition of the new facilities have made the centre one of the best counter-terrorism training facilities among contemporary armies, it stated.
So far, 231,000 troops of the armed forces, 3,483 police officers and civil armed forces men have been trained at the centre.
Five joint exercises have been conducted at the centre with China, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Turkey.
According to ISPR, a contingent of Russian ground forces arrived in Pakistan on Friday for the first-ever joint Pakistan-Russian exercise, which kicks off on September 24.
The two-week exercise will continue until October 10, said ISPR Director General Lt-Gen Asim Bajwa.
Local media highlighted the importance of the joint Pakistan-Russian exercise for bilateral ties including military cooperation.
