Pak supports 'self-determination' in Kashmir: Army chief Bajwa

Raking up the Kashmir issue, Pakistan Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa has reaffirmed Islamabad's support for "self-determination" in Jammu and Kashmir.

He also said the Pakistan Army learnt a lot from the 1965 and 1971 wars with India and has made the country's defence impregnable by developing nuclear weapons.

Addressing the Defence and Martyrs Day ceremony organised at the Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi on Thursday, attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Bajwa said Pakistan supported the people in Jammu and Kashmir in their "struggle for the right to self-determination".

Pakistan observes September 6 as the Defence and Martyrs Day to mark the anniversary of the 1965 war with India.

"We have learned a lot from the wars of 65 and 71. We were able to further strengthen our defence forces in the wake of these wars. Despite difficult economic times, we were able to become an atomic power," Bajwa said.

"September 6, 1965, is an important day in the history of our nation," he said, adding that Pakistani soldiers jumped into the fiery pits of warfare but did not let the country be harmed.

"The bravery shown by our nation during the 1965 war serves as an important lesson and an inspiration to our youth even today," he said.

Prime Minister Khan, in his address, said Pakistan will never fight any other country's war in future and his government's foreign policy will be in the best interest of the nation.

"We will not become part of a war of any other country (in future)...Our foreign policy will be in the best interest of the nation," he said, apparently referring to the country's involvement in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Pakistan was the ally of the United States during the Cold War as it fought the American war with the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

Khan also praised the Pakistani armed forces for combating terrorism.

"No other nation has fought the war on terror like the Pakistan Army," he said.

He said role of the security forces and intelligence agencies in making the country safer against all threats was unparalleled.

Khan also talked about investing in human capital by sending children to schools and building hospitals and system of merit so that everyone is treated equally on the pattern of first Muslim state of Medina.

"The government will bring meritocracy and transparency in all sectors by following the golden principles of state of Medina," he said.