Speculations of a deal with Nawaz Sharif are baseless: DG ISPR

RAWALPINDI: Director General (DG) Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar Wednesday said that speculations regarding a deal with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif are unsubstantiated and baseless.

“If anyone asks you about a deal then you should ask the circumstances and the name of the person who is cracking a deal with them,” he said while addressing a press conference over multi-security challenges in the region.

He termed it speculation and said that it is better to minimize such discussions as the country has far important issues like health and education.

‘Fencing at Pak-Afghan border to safeguard, not to divide people’

DG ISPR said that fencing at the Pakistan and Afghanistan border was aimed at safeguarding people rather than dividing them, ARY NEWS reported.

the DG ISPR said that they are completely focused on erecting a fence on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and will complete it as soon as possible.

“95 percent of fencing process has been completed,” he said and added that erecting it was necessary to ensure security and proper movement of people and goods between the two countries.

“Our martyrs have laid down their lives for erecting this fence and 67 special wings have been formed for FC Balochistan and FC Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to secure the border,” he said.

The DG ISPR said Pakistan has to bear the brunt of the pullout of the foreign forces from Afghanistan and there is currently complete harmony among the leadership of both sides to solve local-level issues.

He further shared that a ceasefire with TTP has been ended after December 09 and the talks previously were initiated at the request of the incumbent Afghan rulers.

‘India moving towards path of religious extremism’ 

The DG ISPR said that Pakistan and India had agreed to a ceasefire in 2003 and after it came into force in February 2021, the peace returned to the border.

“This has also brought improvement in the lives of the population living at both sides of the border,” he said.

While speaking over threats being hurled from Indian military leadership, the DG ISPR said that it depicts particular political thinking which has dragged India towards the path of religious extremism.

“Indian measures will have a negative impact on the region,” he said.

He said that India has turned Kashmir into a place of worst humanitarian crisis as the occupied territory has been under siege since August 2019.

The DG ISPR also reminded the international community regarding its promise being made from the people of Kashmir regarding their right to self-determination on January 05, 1949.