Pakistan ready to counter any threat: General Raheel Sharif

Army chief General Raheel Sharif on Friday said Pakistan’s armed forces were capable of countering any threat to the country’s security at any cost amid an intensifying war of words with India over the Kashmir issue.

“The army chief while speaking to officers and men said that let there be no doubt that our valiant armed forces have the capability to counter complete threat spectrum and Inshaallah with the backing of entire nation we will defend each and every inch of our beloved country, no matter what the cost,” the Army said.

Sharif was visiting the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) located near Kharian in Punjab and inaugurated state of the art features to upgrade its infrastructure to accommodate foreign armies and Pakistani security forces’ growing demand for training.

He claimed that Pakistan has been victim of terrorism for over a decade and sacrificed a lot but “we have turned the tide against terrorism primarily due to resilience displayed by the whole nation and professionalism of our security forces”.

Diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan have been rising since the September 18 attack on an Army base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 18 Indian soldiers.

Pakistan has rejected allegations of its involvement in the assault even as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif again raked up the Kashmir issue in his speech at the UN General Assembly session on Thursday.

Hours after Sharif’s speech, India described Pakistan as a “terrorist state” and accused it of carrying out “war crimes” against Indians through its “long-standing policy” of sponsoring terrorism.