ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa held a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the PM House in Islamabad on Monday and discussed matters pertaining to national security.
“Professional issues pertaining to national security were discussed during the meeting,” said a statement issued by the PM Office.
The COAS also separately called on President Mamnoon Hussain at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad and discussed matters of security and professionalism.
The president felicitated General Qamar Bajwa on assuming his position as the Army Chief and expressed confidence that his professional capabilities would strengthen the national defence.
President Mamnoon directed to continue the implementation of National Action Plan (NAP) and Operation Zarb-e-Azb to ensure complete peace in the country.
The meetings took place a day after India and Afghanistan once again lashed out at Pakistan on terrorism at the sixth Heart of Asia Conference in Amritsar.
While addressing the Conference on Sunday, the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accused Pakistan of waging an “undeclared war” and said that Taliban insurgents battling his government would not last a month without sanctuary in the neighboring state.
The Afghan president also urged Pakistan to spend around $500 million pledged in aid for Afghanistan to tackle extremism.
Separately, the Indian government did not allow Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz to hold a press conference on the sidelines of Heart of Asia Conference citing “security reasons”.
Later talking to media persons in Islamabad, Sartaj Aziz said that the Afghan president’s statement was “regrettable”, and reiterated that Pakistan believed in peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and had complete solidarity and commitment to bring peace and security in the neighboring country.
Sartaj Aziz also said that India could not succeed in its attempts to damage Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan and creating differences between the two brotherly states.
