ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has counselled unnamed neighbours to address problems at home instead of blaming Pakistan for their woes.

“Terrorism cannot be defeated by closing eyes to one’s own responsibilities and resorting to throwing blame outside as being done by a few players in the region,” Gen Bajwa said at the National Defence University here without naming the countries he was referring to. He was addressing participants of the National Security and War Course.

Pakistan’s primary concern has been the blame game by Afghanistan and India, whose officials routinely accuse Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism on their soil. Afghan authorities blame most of terrorist acts in their country on Pakistan, while India uses the terrorism card to discredit the uprising in held Kashmir and at the same time refuse dialogue with the neighbour over bilateral disputes.

Army chief says Pakistan has indiscriminately fought terrorism at home

Islamabad has on a number of occasions rejected the allegations.

Kabul has repeatedly been asked to shun the blame game and start cooperating in fighting what is described as the “common enemy”.

“The threat requires a trust based coordinated response rather than a blame game or unwarranted skirmishes,” Gen Bajwa had said earlier this week while visiting Peshawar Corps. His message was directed towards Afghan authorities.

Pakistan and Afghanistan had on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana agreed to undertake specific actions against terror groups, which were to be identified through the Quadrilateral Coordination Group, and a mechanism for verification of those actions.

Gen Bajwa said Pakistan “indiscriminately” fought terrorism at home. He pledged to root out terrorism through the ongoing Raddul Fasaad military operation, which has been continuing for months.

The army on Friday announced elimination of two terrorists in an intelligence-based operation, carried out as part of Raddul Fasaad in Dera Ghazi Khan.

The two terrorists were planning to target a public gathering identified as “religious activity”.

Moreover, recovery of a huge cache of weapons and ammunition was made during a raid in North Waziristan’s Dattakhel tehsil.

Gen Bajwa said the full spectrum of threat demands, which covers both internal and external challenges, requires comprehensive national response.

“The Army is fully engaged in enabling that response in coordination with other institutions of the state. … Pakistan Army is committed to defence and security of the country and shall continue to perform with support of the people of Pakistan,” he maintained.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2017