Pakistan army chief calls for regional peace

Islamabad, October 8

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Saturday emphasised the need for regional peace and developing a mechanism for resolving all bilateral issues peacefully among countries as he warned that the “price of status quo will be devastating for all of us”.

What could possibly be his last address at the prestigious Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul as he is set to retire by the end of November, he said that the “world has changed, so should we as the price of status quo will be devastating for all of us.” Without naming any country, the 61-year-old stressed the need for regional peace and developing a mechanism for resolving all bilateral issues peacefully.

“We must give peace a chance by developing a mechanism to resolve all our bilateral issues peacefully. Moreover, as opposed to fighting each other, we should collectively fight hunger, poverty, illiteracy, population explosion, climate change and disease,” he said.

In his address, Bajwa said that “in our quest for peace, we have extended sincere and all-out efforts to evolve good neighbourly relations with all our neighbours and regional countries…We are trying our best to break the political logjam which has denied the countries of South Asia to move forward and resolve all regional and bilateral issues in a peaceful and dignified manner.”