"International community should provide all possible support and assistance to Pakistan to make the war against terrorism a success", Javed Ashraf said while talking to a delegation of UK House of Commons' Defence Select Committee led by Rt. Hon. James Arbuthnot.
The British Parliamentary delegation called on Chairman Standing Committee at the Parliament House on Monday. Deputy Chairman Senate, Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali was also present on the occasion, besides Senators Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Haji Muhammad Adeel, Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain along with Special Secretary Iftikhar-u-llah Babar and senior officials of the Ministry of Defence.
"Though the country's commitment to eradicate terror in all forms and manifestations is based on its own conviction and principles, it is imperative to ensure continuous availability of financial resources, training and equipment, besides the much-needed intelligence sharing to sustain the war and to stamp out terrorism," he added.
He said the on going operation had the full backing and support of the people, civil society and media. "The country has bagged significant victories in this struggle where Swat and Waziristan have been major success stories," he added. He said the Army had successfully expelled the terrorists from these places and they were now targeting innocent civilians, government offices, educational institutions, mosques, markets etc in desperation.
He informed the delegation that the country has suffered economic losses to the tune of 35 billion US dollars, besides heavy human causalities, which included 2,250 men in uniform and about 40,000 civilians due to bomb blasts and terrorist attacks. Similarly, he said, a large portion of the civilian population has been dislocated in the form of IDPs, who have also suffered loss of livelihood.
Chairman Senate body urged the United Kingdom to provide training to armed forces. He also urged the delegation to use its influence and good offices to stop supply of weapons particularly explosives to terrorists from Afghanistan.
He informed the delegation that in almost every terrorist incident, weapons coming through Afghanistan were being used for causing destruction. He particularly highlighted the fact that sharing of intelligence was necessary to control menaces like IEDs, which were causing a lot of problems. He said training and exchange programmes with Staff Collage, Quetta should be worked out to mutual advantage.
Leader of the UK delegation commended Pakistan's efforts to root out and eradicate terror and observed that it was really encouraging to see that the ongoing operation had the support of all segments of the society. He said terrorism was a global challenge requiring common approach and strategies.
He endorsed the Chairman's observations regarding exchange of visits and training programmes to mutual advantage of both the sides. They also shared the concern on IEDs and stressed the need to neutralise the threat from such devices.