RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE MUST BE STOPPED IMMEDIATELY: PAKISTAN ARMY CHIEF

Sat 02 April 2022:

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Bajwa on Saturday said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must be “stopped immediately”, terming it a great tragedy.

Speaking at the Islamabad Security Dialogue, Gen Bajwa expressed Pakistan’s serious concern over the conflict, adding that “despite legitimate security concerns of Russia, its aggression against a smaller country cannot be condoned.”

“Pakistan has consistently called for an immediate ceasefire and cessation of hostilities. We support immediate dialogue between all sides to find a lasting solution to the conflict,” he added.

He said the Russian invasion of Ukraine was very unfortunate as thousands of people had been killed, millions made refugees and “half of Ukraine destroyed”.

The army chief said the conflict gave hope to smaller countries that they could still defend their territory with smaller but agile forces against aggression by a bigger country by carrying out selective modernatisation of equipment.

He noted that Pakistan had enjoyed excellent defence and economic relationships with Ukraine since its independence but relations with Russia were “cold” for a long time because of numerous reasons. However, some positive developments in this regard had taken place recently, he added.

Pakistan had sent humanitarian assistance to Ukraine via Pakistan Air Force (PAF) planes and would continue to do, he said. He cautioned that the continuation or expansion of the conflict would not serve the interests of any side, least of all the developing countries which would continue to face socio-economic costs of the conflict, which he said could “easily get out of hand”.

Gen Bajwa pointed out that there were two camps internationally — those who advocated contestation and those who advocated cooperation — and the future vision of security would be decided based on which camp prevailed.

“I believe the world today is built by those who believe in cooperation, respect and equality, instead of division, war-mongering and dominance.”

Pakistan’s interests were served only when cooperation instead of contestation between power centres was promoted, he said, calling on the international community to support cooperative countries such as Pakistan rather than those who wish to gain from this contest.

‘Long and strategic relationship with US’

The army chief also spoke about Pakistan’s relations with other countries, including the United States.

Amid concerns about a contestation between global powers, Pakistan was positioning itself as a melting pot for international economic interests by focusing on connectivity and friendship, he added.

“Pakistan does not believe in camp politics and our bilateral relations with our partners are not at the expense of our relationships with other countries.”

Pakistan enjoyed a close strategic relationship with China which was demonstrated by the country’s commitment towards the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said, adding, “equally, we share a long and excellent strategic relationship with the US which remains our largest export market.”

He said that Pakistan sought to broaden and expand relations with both China and the US “without impacting our relations with [either]”.

In addition, relations with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Gulf countries, South East Asia and Japan were also important for Pakistan’s progress, the COAS said.

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