Defence Secretary Lt Gen (r) Athar Ali on Saturday told members of the Inquiry Commission on Abbottabad Operation that the incident had left “a very deep imprint” on the entire Pakistani nation in general and the armed forces in particular. The fourth meeting of the commission was held at the Cabinet Division under the chairmanship of Justice (r) Javed Iqbal.
Ali said neither the Ministry of Defence nor the Joint Staff Headquarters or any other military service had ever considered the US or Afghanistan a direct threat to the country’s defence. Giving a detailed briefing to the members of the commission, the defence secretary informed the meeting that the armed forces were now better prepared to respond to any such recurrence, as adequate safeguards had been taken. General Ali explained to the commission that the Defence Policy directs the Joint Staff Headquarters to formulate the Joint Strategic Directive (JSO), which was issued in 2007, following extensive debate within the armed forces and acts as a main document for the Armed Forces for everything including their composition, structuring, development plans, training, methodology, employment strategy, etc.