In Islamabad, the National Action Plan Apex Committee, headed by Shehbaz Sharif, approved the ‘Azm-e-Istahkam’ operation against terrorists.
He said that a soft state can never win the confidence of investors. Leaving everything to the military is dangerous, and provincial governments can’t absolve themselves from responsibility. He stressed that we should all work together against terrorism. The apex committee reviewed the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign, internal security situation, and progress on multi-domain principles of NAP, according to the communiqué. The forum identified failures in implementing NAP and called for a comprehensive new counter-terrorism strategy, which should also be vital.
The meeting agreed that the strategy should be based on national consensus and extensive system-wide coordination. Shehbaz Sharif approved launching the Azm-e-Istahkam operation after consensus among all stakeholders. Including the four provinces of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. As a national commitment to eliminating terrorism and extremism in the country.
The Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, Interior Minister, Finance Minister, Law Minister, Information & Broadcasting Minister, and other key cabinet members attended the meeting. Chief Ministers of four provinces of Gilgit-Baltistan military leaders and provincial chief secretaries were also present. Earlier, while addressing the meeting, PM said that we have a collective responsibility to implement the accountability process fully without any exception function. He said that terrorism has affected Pakistan in many ways over the past two & half decades. Pakistan’s Terrorism issue is very complex, having a deadly nexus between Terrorism, Crime, Drugs, Smuggling Extremism, and Religious Hatred.
Stability and the rule of law are necessary for sustainable development in Pakistan. A soft state can never gain the confidence of investors. Thinking about a healthy, robust economy is unrealistic when such incidents cause no peace due to frequent upheavals. All institutions and provincial governments have relied entirely upon the armed forces, a problematic trend emerging during the last few years. However, this will only help us eliminate this menace from our country for a while. Therefore, we need a comprehensive system and government for sustainable stability.
The armed forces of Pakistan have been shedding blood for many decades, making unprecedented sacrifices. All law enforcement agencies, ministries, federal and provincial governments, and institutions must work together to eliminate terrorism. After the 18th Modification in the Constitution, provinces have a significant role as they now have all the necessary resources. We must establish peace in our country, creating consensus among all stakeholders, including political and religious leadership. The political and spiritual leadership needs to understand that this war against terrorism is being fought to safeguard our future generations. We should own it up as a nation beyond any differences and support our armed forces. It would be wrong if we blamed only one institution. Active diplomacy is also required for taking action against those terrorist elements who are outside Pakistan.
Moreover, to carry out successful anti-terrorist activities, he called for laws that would fill the gaps in the current legal system, which he identified as one of the main obstacles so, saying all necessary materials and supplies would be given to the Pakistan Army and Ministry of Interior for joint work with them against terrorism. The ongoing propaganda campaign on social media platforms regarding Pakistan-China relations was dismissed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as baseless and designed to create unrest in our country. He told the Chinese leadership that they responded to this campaign through their statements, which showed how much they value the relationship with Pakistan.
