Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) Gen Ehsanul Haq received the prime minister on his arrival at the Joint Staff Headquarters, an Inter-Service Public Relations statement said.

Matters relating to important aspects of the three services were discussed at the meeting between the prime minister and chairman JCSC.

Gen Ehsan highlighted Pakistan’s defence cooperation with various countries and underlined its importance to continue in a pro-active manner.

The prime minister was briefed on the role and tasks of the Joint Staff Headquarters, Pakistan’s defence doctrine and Armed Forces Development Plan 2019.

The briefing was attended by the defence minister and secretaries of defence, finance and defence production as well as senior officers from the army, navy and air force.

The prime minister appreciated the important tasks being performed by the JS Headquarters. He reiterated that strong armed forces were a requirement for the security and solidarity of the country. He said the government would continue to meet defence needs to ensure that the armed forces were equipped with state-of-the-art technology to meet any challenge.

Mr Aziz said Pakistan was a peaceful country and wanted peace in the region. However, he pointed out, peace intentions should never be viewed as a sign of weakness.

Pakistan cannot be coerced and it is capable of thwarting any attempt to its security and solidarity, he said, adding that peace with neighbours would always be maintained on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect.