Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa stressed on Saturday the need for regional peace and developing a mechanism for resolving all bilateral issues peacefully, as he warned that the “price of status quo will be devastating for all of us”.
“We must give peace a chance by developing a mechanism to resolve all our bilateral issues peacefully. Moreover, as opposed to fighting each other, we should collectively fight hunger, poverty, illiteracy, population explosion, climate change and disease,” he emphasised during his address at a ceremony held to mark the passing-out parade of 146th PMA Long Course at Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul.
“The world has changed, so should we as the price of status quo will be devastating for all of us,” warned the army chief.
However, he added: “I must highlight here that our desire for peace must not be construed as our weakness. No one should make any mistake about our collective resolve to defend our core interests and every inch of our motherland.”
The army chief also highlighted that “in our quest for peace, we have extended sincere and all-out efforts to evolve good neighbourly relations with all our neighbours and regional countries.
“We are trying our best to break the political logjam which has denied the countries of South Asia to move forward and resolve all regional and bilateral issues in a peaceful and dignified manner.”
He asserted that the people of South Asia, like the rest of the world, deserved prosperity and better living conditions.
“This can only happen with sustained economic growth, development and above all, lasting peace. Therefore, we must strive hard to keep the flames of war away from the region,” he stressed.
