As Pakistan upgraded its defense system on the Afghan border with the deployment of additional troops, anti-aircraft guns and shoulder-to-air missiles, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Friday no attack on the country’s sovereignty would be allowed and any attempt in future would definitely meet a detrimental response.
The prime minister was talking to Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who called on him here at PM’s House. The prime minister and army chief discussed matters pertaining to national security in the backdrop of the Mohmand Agency incident, according to an official statement. The army chief told the PM about the steps taken on the western borders to revamp the defence capabilities aimed at effectively countering the recurrence of an incursion into Pakistani territory. Gilani said the democratic government would not allow a similar attack on the country’s sovereignty again and any such attempt in future would be met with a detrimental response.
An official privy to the meeting said Gen Kayani also briefed the prime minister on steps being taken to beef up security arrangements on the country’s western border in the aftermath of the NATO air strike on border posts in Mohmand Agency. “Gen Kayani told Gilani that the border defence system was upgraded and additional troops were being deployed on the Afghan border. The army chief told the PM that more anti-aircraft guns had been deployed there along with shoulder-to-air missiles, and the troops had also been ordered to take every possible step on their own to protect the country’s sovereignty in the face of any external threat,” the official said. In addition to that the radar system had also been upgraded, he said further. A security official seeking anonymity said alarmed by the covert US strike in Abbottabad on May 2 to kill Osama bin Laden, Pakistan was already upgrading its border defences but the NATO strike brought acceleration to the process. “First came the May 2 incident and we were shocked and forced to take certain measures [at the border], but then came the NATO air strike and we had to accelerate the process of the border defence system. Earlier, we were not expecting any such incident at the Western border because allied troops were stationed on the other side, but that is no longer the case,” the official said.
The Pentagon said it was aware of the developments on the Pak-Afghan border, but that upgrading defence arrangements was Pakistan’s internal matter.
Spare no aggressor, Kayani told
