ISLAMABAD, April 26: President General Pervez Musharraf said here on Tuesday that balance of power was the best guarantee for peace and Pakistan would maintain its minimum defensive deterrence both in the conventional and non-conventional areas. The president who was speaking at the 58th Formation Commanders’ Conference at the General Headquarters (GHQ), praised the advanced weaponry developed by various arms of the forces.

About 150 generals attending the conference reviewed the threat and response parameters for the country’s defence, especially against the backdrop of India’s Cold Start Doctrine.

The new Indian war doctrine was unveiled by India’s army chief Gen N.C. Vij on March 4, 2004, while inaugurating a two-day seminar on ‘Army 2020: shape and size and structure and general doctrine for emerging challenges’.

According to a press release of the Inter Services Public Relations, the conference was briefed on the threat spectrum including the ‘Cold Start Doctrine’ propagated last year by India, newly raised South Western Command, Rapid Reaction Force, Special Forces Command, Indian force goals and the status of their development plans.

The participants discussed various implications of the threat and response parameters.

Deliberating upon the security situation, the participants discussed external and internal factors and expressed satisfaction over various steps taken to respond to different scenarios.

While reviewing the ongoing restructuring plan of the army and its short-and-long term development plans, the participants expressed satisfaction that these were proceeding in accordance with the envisaged benchmarks.

The conference also reviewed the army’s employment on UN peacekeeping missions and noted with pride that now Pakistan was the largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping missions with around 9,500 troops employed in various parts of the world, mostly in African countries.

Towards the end of the two-day session, the participants witnessed a display of indigenously developed defence equipment and vehicles. While some of the equipment were value-added version of the combat equipment already in service in the army, the others were to act as force multiplier.

The conference note with utmost satisfaction that the indigenous defence industry was progressing well and had earned international recognition.

Besides it was ensuring greater self-reliance and contribution to the national economy.