Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Monday defended the Prime Minister's decision to give a three-year extension to Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, saying it gives a clear message to the whole world that Pakistan's civil and military leadership is on 'one page.' While talking to media persons prior to attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, the foreign minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan, exercising his constitutional authority and discretionary powers, gave a three-year extension to General Bajwa, keeping in view the situation in occupied Kashmir and Afghanistan as well as the overall regional situation.
"The decision has also sent a clear message across the border to our neighbour [India] that here is continuation [of policies] and to the entire world that Pakistan's civil and military leadership is on one page," Qureshi further insisted. Referring to the situation in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, he said the curfew is still continued and one could only be able to understand the real situation on the ground when the curfew is lifted.
He said that according to international media reports, Kashmiri people tried to violate the curfew last Saturday and there were also reports of clashes between the protesters and Indian forces in the occupied valley.