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ISLAMABAD Terming the nuclear assets as the cornerstone of country's deterrence doctrine, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), General Tariq Majid on Thursday said any attempt to undermine Pakistan's core capability will be strongly resisted and defeated.
let it be known that Pakistan is confident but not complacent. Our security apparatus prepares and practices contingencies to meet all such eventualities, and would not be deterred from taking any action whatsoever in ensuring that our strategic assets are jealously safeguarded, he said while commenting on the scenarios implying the international community to mobilise and secure country's nuclear weapons.
He was speaking at the convocation ceremony of National Defence Course, Armed Forces War Course and Allied Officers War Course at National Defence University, here.
This was the strongest reaction to the propaganda about the security of Pakistan's nuclear assets and the possibility of them going into the hands of militants and some recent speculative reports about Washingtons contingency plans for a potential military intervention to secure Pakistans nuclear weapons.
General Tariq Majid terming it a vicious campaign, unleashed to malign and discredit Pakistan, said the disinformation about the security of the country's nuclear assets in the context of current domestic instability was deliberately being propogated and efforts were being being made to create doubts that some compromises on strategic programme had been or were being made.
He reiterated that based on the pillars of restraint and responsibility, Pakistan had developed and operationalised a very effective nuclear weapons security regime which was multilayered, had stringent access controls and incorporates modern technical solutions and rigorous personnel reliability programmes.
As the system conforms to international best practices and has the capacity to meet all challenges, there should be absolutely no doubt about the viability of custodial controls and fail safe security arrangements put in place.
As custodian of the development of strategic programme and its security, he made it clear in unambiguous terms that our solutions are home-grown and do not allow intrusiveness by any state. No foreign individual, entity or state has been provided or shall ever be provided access to our sensitive information.
He said insinuations to the contrary are plain mischievous and need to be contemptuously dismissed.
Terming the nuclear weapons are the cornerstone of Pakistan's deterrence doctrine and we are determined to retain it at all costs, he said no amount of coercion, direct or indirect, can force Pakistan to compromise on this core interest.
He commended the efforts of the faculty and management of National Defence University which besides grooming the senior civil and military leadership has also made tremendous contributions in refining and defining strategic and operational concepts of the armed forces as well as for civilian policy makers, laying down criteria of their successful implementation.
While addressing the graduates General Tariq said, the standing of a country in today's world was measured by its political and economic strengths, the state of development of its human resource, and the management skills of the senior leadership.
The need of the moment is to promote a culture of tolerance, establish a stable democratic and an effective governance system, and develop a vibrant economic order by making optimum utilization of all our national resources.
He said for a country like Pakistan which was braving through complex challenges, the task of policy and decision makers was not easy.
On one hand we have resource constraints, and on the other, we have pressing security and developmental needs to be addressed. The test of leadership is in judicious utilization of the available resources while evolving and implementing policies which aim at minimising the security risks as well as enlarging the resource base. This is where your role gets defined as the future policy makers, he remarked.
