Agence France-Presse,
Islamabad: Pakistan's powerful military chief Thursday vowed that his forces were “fully prepared” to meet any challenges, one day after his Indian counterpart said all options remained on the table.
Relations between the two sides have been strained since the Mumbai attacks in November, which India has blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Pakistani officials said last month that troops were moved to the Indian border.
India's army chief General Deepak Kapoor said Wednesday that while he regarded war as a “last resort,” the current situation meant that “we in India are keeping all our options open and that must be clearly understood.”
Then, Pakistani army chief of staff General Ashfaq Kayani met senior commanders at the army's general headquarters in the garrison town of Rawalpindi Thursday to discuss the “prevailing security environment,” the military said.
Kayani said Pakistan's army was “fully prepared to meet the challenges,” the military said in a statement, without making specific reference to India.
He “further emphasised that the threat could best be defeated through a comprehensive national effort” and said he was satisfied with the “operation preparedness” of his troops, the statement said, without naming the “threat”.
Pakistan's military is battling Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants in the country's rugged northwest tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, and waging a separate campaign against Muslim extremists in the northwestern Swat valley.
