LAHORE - Former ISI Director General Gen (r) Khawaja Ziauddin on Tuesday disclosed that America was facilitating Afghanistan to raise 0.4 million-strong army which will be equipped with sophisticated weaponry. Delivering a lecture at Hameed Nizami Hall on the topic of Challenges to National Security and their Solution, held under the aegis of TheNation, Nawa-i-Waqt and Waqt News, he said: Pakistan should also keep its preparation to ward off an expected attack from its western border besides its traditional rival India. The former general also called on Editor-in-Chief TheNation and Nawa-i-Waqt, Majid Nizami prior to delivering the lecture. A question-answer session was held at the end. Khawaja Farrukh Saeed conducted the proceedings. General Ziauddin said the development might be worrisome for Pakistan because if the country was attacked from two different directions simultaneously, its difficulties to defend the motherland could be well imagined. The retired general was of the view that Pakistan will have to maintain maximum level of preparedness to thwart any joint offensive from two different directions. The Pakistan Air Force and ISI will have to be vigilant to counter any such threat, he added. Ziauddin said that foreign enemies of Pakistan were conspiring against the army and the ISI but We should not become part of this campaign. He said Abbottabad incident had exposed some of our weaknesses, but the given the nature of ties and cooperation between the two armies, Pakistan never expected of the US to stab it in the back. He, however, said that secret agencies should had prior knowledge of the expected happening and the same should had been averted. The former ISI chief said that America had set a bad precedent by its unilateral action inside Pakistan which may lead to chaos in the world if other countries tried to follow it. To a question from the audience, he said PAF had the capability to shoot down the drones. To another question, he said General Musharraf had thrown Pakistan into a quagmire of problems by involving Pakistan into the so-called war on terror after the 9/11. Had I been in Musharrafs place at that time I would never have done so, he averred. Responding to another question, he said that if the replacement of General Jehangir Karamat with General Musharraf was a correct decision then latters replacement with me was also correct. He declared that like former president Rafique Tarar, he was also thinking of filing a writ petition against Musharraf; but if the Chief Justice of Pakistan took suo moto action in this regard, he was ready to appear before the court. He said though a lot of water had flowed under the bridge but Musharrafs trial was necessary to correct the history so that nobody ever dared to follow his foot prints. To a query, he said there was no possibility of any rebellion from armys lower ranks. He said General Kayani and General Pasha were professional soldiers and enjoyed lot of respect in the army due to their sound character. He said Pakistan should protect Jihadi forces to use them as third force for countrys defence in case of any threat to its security from any side. He said foreign powers wanted to destroy Jihadi elements so that Pakistan could not use them for countrys defence. He alleged that foreign powers were infiltrating their spies inside Pakistan who were carrying out acts of terror but the responsibility is laid on other organisations.