ISLAMABAD: The assertions of former army chief retired General Qamar Javed Bajwa about the military’s operational preparedness were taken out of context, the military’s media wing said on Friday.

The clarification came in response to journalist Hamid Mir’s claims in a television interview earlier this week, where he said the ex-army chief, in a discussion with journalists, justified the ceasefire with India on the pretext of the military’s lack of operational preparedness.

Mr Mir claimed that in a meeting with around 20 to 25 journalists at the Foreign Office in 2021, the former army chief said that tanks were unable to move as there was no fuel for the movement and since the army was not capable of fighting with India, therefore, Pak­istan should normalise relations with the neighbouring country.

Mr Mir also blamed Gen Bajwa for “striking a deal on Kashmir”.

Imran says he knows ‘much more’, but won’t divulge for sake of national security

In its statement, Inter-Services Public Rela­tions (ISPR) said the army “always took and will continue to take pride in [its] operational preparedness and utmost combat worthiness”.

“Pakistan’s Armed Forces always did and will continue to keep their weapons, equipment and battle-hardened human resources ever ready for the defence of the motherland,” the statement continued.

Referring to Gen Bajwa’s comments, ISPR said there have been discussions in the media on the army’s combat worthiness “in view of the condition of certain weapon systems on its inventory”.

“To this end, views of [the] former army chief on future threat to Pakistan, which he shared with media persons in an off-the-record interactive session, have been quoted out of context.”

In his maiden press conference earlier this week, ISPR Director General Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry also admitted that there was no comparison between Pakistan and India’s defence budgets.

The expenditure on an Indian soldier was also much higher than a Pakistani soldier, Maj Gen Chaudhry said in response to a question about the ex-army chief’s comments.

He, however, ruled out any deficiency in operational preparedness and said the armed forces, with the support of people, were fully capable to repulse any aggression from the Indian side and can even take the battle to the enemy territories.

PTI’s criticism

PTI chief Imran Khan, who has been criticising the former army chief for allegedly meddling in the government’s affairs while he was prime minister, once again censured him over the alleged remarks. On Friday, Mr Khan said he knew much more than what Mr Mir said.

“Since this matter is related to national security, I don’t want to say anything that would become news for international media as it would be detrimental to Pakistan,” he said while responding to a question after attending a hearing on his bail petition at the Islamabad High Court.

PTI’s senior vice president Dr Shireen Mazari also called the ISPR’s clarification “reassuring” but added that the ex-army chief’s remarks were not taken out of context as he had repeatedly made similar claims on many occasions. She demanded that Gen Bajwa be held accountable for his remarks.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2023