KHARIAN: Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif on Friday said the Army will defend “each and every inch” of Pakistan “no matter what the cost”, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said.

The Army chief, addressing officers at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre near Kharian, said that Pakistan’s armed forces “have the capability to counter the complete threat spectrum”.

Gen Raheel said that Pakistan had, despite being a victim of terrorism for over a decade, been able to turn the tide against terrorism due to the nation’s resilience and the professionalism of its security forces.

The COAS on his visit to the NCTC inaugurated state-of-the-art upgradations to the centre’s infrastructure allowing it accommodate the growing demand of foreign armies and Pakistan’s own law enforcement agencies to train alongside the Pakistan Army.

The addition of the new facilities have made the NCTC one of the best counter-terrorism training facilities among contemporary armies, ISPR claims.

So far, 231,000 troops of the armed forces, 3,483 police officers and civil armed forces men have been trained at the NCTC, Lt Gen Umar Farooq Durrani, Commander of the Strike Corps, briefed the army chief.

He added that five joint exercises have been conducted at the centre with China, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Turkey.

The Army chief’s strongly-worded statement comes at a time when regional tensions are soaring as Pakistan and India face off at the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York over the Kashmir issue.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his address to the UN maintained that Pakistan wants peace with India but it is “not possible without resolving the Kashmir issue”. The premier urged the UN to demilitarise Jammu and Kashmir and called for steps to implement UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir.

India, exercising its Right of Reply, levelled serious allegations against Pakistan in its rebuttal, terming it a ‘terrorist state’.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif visited the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) located near Kharian and inaugurated state of the art features to upgrade its infrastructure aimed at accommodating foreign Armies and own LEAs’ growing demand for training with Pak Army.

Addition of new facilities have turned NCTC as the best counter terrorism training facility amongst the contemporary Armies, an Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) press release said Friday.

The COAS was briefed by Lt. General Umar Farooq Durrani, Commander of the strike Corps about various aspects of NCTC and apprised that so far 231,000 troops of armed forces and 3,483 officers and personnel of Police and Civil Armed Forces have been trained there.

He said that besides imparting anti terrorism training at the centre, five joint exercises have been conducted at NCTC with friendly countries including China, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Srilanka, Maldives and Turkey.

Defence Attaches of various countries were also present at the occasions.

The COAS appreciated all those responsible for imparting training at NCTC with a focused approach in enhancing capacity building of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) through quality training making best use of the fully equipped facility.

General Raheel Sharif said 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.”

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