Kashmir issue major reason behind hostility between Pakistan, India Says COAS
By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 04 Jan 2023
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Thursday that unsettled issues in South Asia are dragging the entire region back into poverty and underdevelopment.
Addressing the audience on day two of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue, Gen Bajwa said, "It is sad to know that even today it [South Asia] is amongst the least integrated regions of the world in terms of trade infrastructure water, and energy cooperation.
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Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Major General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that the unresolved issue of occupied Kashmir is the biggest reason behind escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.
Addressing the National Security Dialogue ceremony, the army chief said that there is a need to resolve old enmity between the arch-rivals to maintain peace and stability in the region.
We are spending a low budget on defense despite increasing security challenges, he told.
General Qamar Bajwa said that Pakistan is playing an important role in sustainable peace in the neighboring country Afghanistan.
"On top of it, despite being impoverished, we end up spending a lot of our money on defense, which naturally comes at the expense of human development."
He also noted that "despite rising security challenges, Pakistan has been one of the few [countries] that has resisted the temptation of involving itself in an arms race", citing a decrease in the country's defense expenditure.
"The world has seen the ravages of the world wars and the Cold War, wherein polarisation and neglect of virtues blighted the future and brought catastrophic consequences for humanity," he said.
"Today the leading drivers of change in the world are demography, economy and technology. However, one issue that remains central to this concept is economic security and cooperation. Frayed relations between various powers centres of the globe and boomeranging of competing alliances can bring nothing but another stint of Cold War."
