PM Shehbaz orders joint investigation into Besham terrorist attack on Chinese workers n We shall not leave any stone unturned to ensure security of Chinese nationals: General Asim Munir.

 

ISLAMABAD  -  Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday or­dered to conduct a thor­ough joint investigation of the Besham terrorist at­tack on Chinese nationals working on Dassu Hydel Power Project, utilising all resources of the state. 

The prime minister offering deepest condo­lences to the families of the innocent victims of the attack assured that the perpetrators of this barbaric act would be brought to justice swiftly. 

Chairing a high level emergency meeting in the aftermath of Besham terrorist attack on Chi­nese nationals, the prime minister appreciated the alacrity with which law enforcement agencies and locals responded to the attack, saving many precious lives which could have been lost. 

The meeting was at­tended by the Federal Ministers, Chief of the Army Staff, Chief Min­isters, Chief Secretaries and Inspector Generals of Police of respective provinces, a PM Office press release said.

The meeting dis­cussed in detail the hei­nous attack on innocent civilians working on a development project, meant to contribute to energy and water secu­rity of Pakistan.

Prime Minister Sheh­baz Sharif underscored the enduring bond of brotherhood between the people of Pakistan and China and conveyed that the whole nation was saddened by the loss of Chinese lives. 

He stated, “Terror­ism is a trans-national threat that has been in­strumentalised by the enemies of Pakistan to stymie Pakistan’s prog­ress and development. The acts targeting Pak­istan-China friendship are particularly aimed at creating mistrust between the two iron brothers”. Participants of the meeting expressed resolute commitment to completely rooting out terror­ism from this country. The par­ticipants expressed serious con­cerns over sanctuaries available to terrorists across the bor­ders and emphasized upon the need for a regional approach for countering terrorism. During the meeting, the COAS reiterat­ed the resolve of armed forces to eliminate the scourge of terror­ism afflicting the country. COAS stated that the nation had stead­fastly fought the war on terror for the last two decades and had defeated the nefarious designs of Pakistan’s adversaries.

Noting the recent surge in ter­rorist incidents, COAS General Syed Asim Munir remarked that the enemies of Pakistan had once again underestimated the resilience and grit of the State and the people of Pakistan. 

He said, “We shall fight terror­ism till every terrorist casting an evil eye on Pakistan, its peo­ple and their guests, is eliminat­ed; we shall not leave any stone unturned to ensure that every foreign citizen, especially the Chinese nationals, contributing to the prosperity of Pakistan, is safe and secure in Pakistan. We shall fight terrorism with all our might, to the very end.”

The meeting concluded with the participants reiterating re­solve to comprehensively com­bat terrorism employing all re­sources available to the state. 

Meanwhile, a high-level meet­ing chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad to­day has decided that a Joint In­vestigation Team (JIT) will be formed for investigation into terrorist attack on Chinese en­gineers in Bisham. 

Sharing details of the meeting at a news conference in Islam­abad today, Minister for Infor­mation and Broadcasting At­taullah Tarar said the meeting recognized the importance of adopting a coordinated strategy to curb the menace of terrorism. 

He said a mechanism will be devised under this strategy to ensure greater coordination amongst the relevant stake­holders.

The Information Minister said the meeting applauded the role of security forces in the war on terrorism. He said the partici­pants of the meeting were on the same page that no stone will be left unturned to eradicate the menace of terrorism. He said the whole nation is united in the war on terrorism, reaffirming that every possible step will be taken for the security of import­ant installations, Chinese citi­zens and the Pakistani people.

The meeting was attended by the federal ministers, Army Chief Syed Asim Munir, the four provincial chief ministers as well as the chief secretaries and IGPs of the federating units.

Attaullah Tarar said anti-Pa­kistan elements want to hurt longstanding relationship be­tween Pakistan and China but they will fail in their designs. He said this everlasting relation­ship will remain intact. 

The Information Minister said China has always stood by Paki­stan in difficult times. He said the country has always support­ed Pakistan’s stance at the in­ternational forums. He said the CPEC is our lifeline and guaran­tor of economic development. He said Pakistan shares the grief and sorrow of the Chinese people at this hour of grief.

Responding to a question re­garding security of Chinese na­tionals in Pakistan, Attaullah Tarar said there are SOPs in this regard and all out steps are tak­en to ensure their implemen­tation. However, following the yesterday’s incident, we are identifying any loopholes in the SOPs or their implementation. 

To another question, the Min­ister said federal government is closely engaged with the pro­vincial governments of Baloch­istan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on security issue. 

He mentioned that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has di­rected the Chief Minister Ba­lochistan to expedite working on Gwadar safe city project be­ing funded by federal govern­ment and in this regard the Chief Minister will visit Gwa­dar tomorrow. He said Counter Terrorism force will be estab­lished in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the pattern of the state of the art CTD force of Punjab. To a question about Afghani­stan’s involvement in terror in­cidents in Pakistan, Attaullah Tarar said Prime Minister has already made it clear that any use of soil against Pakistan will be thwarted. He said we con­tinue to emphasize peace in the region and resolve issues through negotiations.