KAKUL: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto said here today [Oct 18] that the People’s Government would continue to do all it can to provide the Armed Forces with the “most modern tools” required for national defence. Addressing the passing out President’s parade at the Pakistan Military Academy, the Prime Minister said his Government was fully aware of the requirements of the Defence establishment. … The Prime Minister said: “I say this with due deliberation lest you may think that the People’s Government wants the nation’s soldiers to man the defences of Pakistan mainly with bare hands and the moral courage and ideological commitment I have been emphasising. And the nation can rest assured that the People’s Government attaches as much importance to the factor of realism as to idealism. … Both are vital… .”

Emphasising the high priority accorded to the country’s defence needs he referred to two major invasions and many military attacks along the ceasefire line. [He] told the young officers: If you follow the Islamic code of morality, you will become well-disciplined and responsible individuals worthy of the nation’s fullest respect.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2026