Parliamentary panel condemns India’s move in held Kashmir; ceasefire violations

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Thursday strongly condemned Indian Constitutional coup and the attempt to change status of the Indian Occupied Kashmir illegally and the blatant ceasefire violations by the Indian troops on the Line of Control.

The Senate Standing Committee on Defence Production assured the Pakistani nation that Pakistan is self-sufficient in production of its military hardware and will give a befitting response to any Indian aggression into Pakistan.

Chairman Committee Senator Lt. Gen. Abdul Qayyum (retd) who is also a member of Senate Committees on Defence and Kashmir said our ammunition dumps are full and defence production needs of Armed Forces are fully met from bullets to missiles to strategic assets. He said Pakistan has no offensive designs but any aggression will be met with full force.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Senator Abdul Qayyum here at the Parliament House on Thursday and was attended among others by Senators Nauman Wazir Khattak, Pervaiz Rasheed, Nuzhat Sadiq, Gul Bashra, Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Major General Kamran Director General DEPO and officials from the ministry and DEPO.

The meeting was given a detailed briefing by Defence Export Promotion Organisation (DEPO) regarding function, role, budget, business/commercial plans, issues, challenges and other related matters. The meeting was told how DEPO has over the years been a focal point for promotion of Defence industry. From 65 exhibitors in 2000 Ideas exhibition in Karachi has reached 524 exhibitors in 2018.

The committee was told that representation from private sector is not very high in the country’s defence production industry or in the exhibitions outside because of low subsidy but slowly new manufacturers are coming up.

The committee was told that one of the challenges the organisation faces is that extension off DEPO for the current year is still awaited and draft legislation for Defence Export Promotion Authority (DEPA) has been forwarded to cabinet for approval. Committee unanimously recommended expediting the process.

Chairman Committee appreciated the role and efforts of DEPO and observed that Pakistan has over the years expanded its defence production export and the work of DEPO in exhibiting and showcasing the products of country have had a big role to play in it. The Committee desired that DEPO should submit highlights of institution wise increase in defence exports ever since DEPO has come into existence.