The top brass of the armed forces resolved on Tuesday to protect the country in the face of internal and external security challenges, and also expressed concerns about delays in supply of military hardware from the United States meant for anti-terrorism campaigns. The military leadership also considered making a request to the government for an increase in the defence budget because of security threats to the country, in the meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) held at the Joint Staff Headquarters.
JCSC Chairman General Khalid Shameem Wynne presided over the meeting, which was attended by Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Noman Bashir, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, the defence secretary, defence production secretary, Joint Staff director general, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general, Strategic Plans Division director general and senior military officers.
“The meeting reviewed issues related to national security and threat perception, as well as discussing the progress on the agenda of the last meeting,” said an official statement. The forum during the session discussed the prevailing national and regional environment and the challenges being faced by the country. An official who wished to remain unnamed said that the participants of the meeting discussed ongoing anti-terrorism campaigns in the tribal areas along with other security and defence related matters.
According to a statement, the chairman JCSC expressed complete satisfaction with the operational preparedness and comprehensive strategy being followed by the armed forces to combat terrorist threats.
