Pakistan bearing burden of war against terrorism: Defence Minister

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Defence Khurram Dastgir Khan has said that Pakistan was bearing the burden of war against terrorism not only in terms of financial resources but also the sacrifices of nearly 70,000 lives of civilians and army personnel.

The federal minister, is leading a four member parliamentary delegation of Pakistan–EU Friendship Group in Brussels, briefed on Pakistan’s contribution to war against terrorism at the highly prestigious Egmont Institute, Royal Institute of International Relations of Belgian Foreign Office.

The minister explained to the group of experts from the Belgian Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence, Counter-Terrorism Department and academics, and said that that the best protection against terrorism is strong democracy.

He stated that with the consolidation of democracy in Pakistan, incidents of terrorism have been controlled and with improvement of internal peace and security situation, the economy has also seen an upward trend in the past few years.

He said that the peace in Afghanistan was imperative for the peace in Pakistan and vice versa, stating that involvement of Pakistan in any kind of peace process was necessary for attaining peaceful settlement of situation in Afghanistan.