LAHORE: Federal Minister for Defence Production and Science and Technology Rana Tanveer Husain has said the new chief of army staff will soon handle the Line of Control issue and the situation will improve along the LoC.

“It is a prerogative of the prime minister to choose any military officials for top slots from a list of seniors. And the PM picked and appointed one of them as COAS and another as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), the minister said while talking to media persons after addressing the International Conference on Advanced Materials and Emerging Technologies-2016 (ICAMET 2016) organized by the UET’s department of metallurgical and materials engineering in collaboration with Higher Education Commission, SNGPL and Punjab University.

“All senior military officials mentioned in the list are equally professional and intelligent,” he said.

The minister said the Pakistani forces were countering the Indian army’s attacks along the LoC, adding that befitting response would be given to Indian troops if they indulged in any misadventure.

Minister says govt determined to encourage rapid industrialisation

When asked about chances of war between the two countries, the minister said: “India will suffer more losses if the war starts.”

He said the present government in India was unluckily headed by an extremist person. “Indian premier Narendra Modi is an extremist and it is reflected from his actions and the tension along the LoC. I hope Mr Modi will soon realize the gravity of the situation,” he said.

Mr Hussain claimed that the government was taking up the Kashmir and LoC issues with the international community.

Earlier addressing to participants of the conference, the minister said the government was determined to encourage and facilitate a rapid industrialization in Pakistan.

He said several incentives had already been announced for the betterment of the industry and the foreign investment.

The minister said the increased automation and sophistication in technology had brought about a global industrialization which had been elemental in uplifting the economic and social wellbeing of the masses.

“We must advance ourselves in every sphere of science and technology,” he added.

Mr Hussain said the unlimited scope of material engineering led to a significant increase in the range and depth of research and development in the industrial world.

He said there was a huge opportunity to explore this sector extensively to boost the economy.

UET Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid said in his keynote speech that material sciences and engineering had played a pivotal role in bringing about transformation in society.

He said the metallurgical engineering was a vast potential area which dealt with the relationship between structure, property, performance and applications.

Dr Akhlaq Ahmad, chairman of UET’s Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, briefed the audience about the conference, its objectives, schedule and proceedings.

He said the purpose of the conference was to provide an umbrella to participants for working jointly to implement progress for collaborative goal-oriented research and training in their respective fields of specialisation.

The experts from the US, France, Denmark, the UAE, Malaysia, Korea and other countries are participating in the conference.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2016