GILGIT: Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Thursday that despite facing internal security challenges, the army was fully prepared for effective response to perpetual threat from the east — a reference to the border with India.

Speaking to troops in Goma and Gilgit, he said: “We all are proud to be soldiers of Pakistan and defending it irrespective of terrain or weather difficulties.”

According an ISPR press release, the army chief visited Siachen and laid a wreath at the Yadgar-i-Shuhada of Gyari. “We owe our independence to sacrifices of our Shuhada. Nothing is nobler than laying one’s life in defence of the motherland,” he said.

Later in his interaction with notables of Gilgit-Baltis­tan, Gen Bajwa said the army was extending full support to all initiatives aimed at ensuring the rights of GB as part of the federation.

Earlier on arrival in Skar­­du, the army chief was recei­ved by Rawalpindi Corps Com­mander Lt Gen Nadeem Raza.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2017