LAHORE, Aug 3: Those trying to paint Pakistan a weak state must be discouraged, Federal Information Minister Nisar A Memon said here on Saturday.

He was speaking at a prize distribution ceremony of Orient-Hamid Nizami Memorial Educational Awards.

Contrary to disinformation, he said, Pakistan was getting stronger on all accounts — defence, diplomacy, law and order and economy.

The Indian forces deployed along the border since December, he said, had not moved an inch. Defence of the country was in safe hands. The leadership, he said, was courageous and capable of hard decisions.

Pakistan, he said, had pulled many diplomatic coups in the last three years. It had kept up its peace offensive, making India defensive. Its efforts on the Afghan front were appreciated by the international community.

The minister said Pakistan had not changed its Kashmir policy. The president has told every visiting dignitary that he would not compromise on the principled stand on Kashmir.

Mr Memon said the law and order, too, had improved. Almost all culprits of the attack on French workers, US consulate, killers of Daniel Pearl and sectarian militants had been captured.

He said the government was not claiming that it was all butter and honey, but there had certainly been progress and the effort would be followed up in earnest.