ISLAMABAD, Feb 06 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday said that the world was facing the challenges of hunger, poverty, and illiteracy that could be overcome by spending almost a trillion dollars, which was far less than the military spendings by the developed world.
He said the priority of the world should be to address global issues, such as climate change, global warming, hunger, poverty, pandemics, diseases, and illiteracy, rather than spending trillions of dollars on armaments and armed forces.
The president expressed these views while talking to a delegation of foreign military officers currently undergoing training at Command and Staff College, Quetta, that called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release.
The president called for shunning of destructive war strategies and focusing on peace strategies to promote international peace and cooperation.
Talking to the participants of the course, the president said that war was not the solution to any issue as it only brought devastation and miseries to mankind, and emphasised the need for negotiations and reconciliation that could help find solutions to global and regional issues.
He said that wars had inflicted destruction in different regions of the world and the Middle East and Africa had been especially ravaged due to wars imposed by other countries as well as internecine conflict.
He highlighted that polarization and re-alignments were taking place in the world and the developing countries should remain neutral in international rivalries.
While talking about regional cooperation, the president said that other regional organizations, like Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were very effective and successful in the promotion of economic and regional cooperation whereas, regrettably, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) could not achieve its objectives due to India’s hegemonic attitude and the imposition of her will over other smaller countries of the region.
The president said that the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Dispute was the key to regional peace and prosperity but, unfortunately, India was not implementing UNSC resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) dispute.
He said that India was involved in grave human rights violations and was committing brutalities for several decades against the civilian population of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
He urged the international community to help implement UNSC resolutions on the J&K dispute.
The president also highlighted the achievements and sacrifices rendered by Pakistan against terrorism, saying that Pakistan single-handedly defeated the menace of terrorism.
It was worth mentioning that Command and Staff College, Quetta is Pakistan’s oldest and premiere military training institution.
Currently, mid-ranking military officers from different friendly countries are undergoing training at the college.
