Islamabad:
The army has no interest in engaging with political parties and should not be trained in politics, the military spokesman said on Friday in an interview, stressing that the institution constantly argued that politics was the field of elected officials.
In an interview with the BBC Urdu, the director general of inter-service public relations (ISPR), the lieutenant-general, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, stressed that the Pakistani army had remained focused on his professional responsibilities.
“The army has always been clear that politics is the work of politicians. The party in power represents the state at the time,” he said. “”[Army’s] Allegiance lies in the people of Pakistan, the territorial integrity of the country, sovereignty and their protection, “he added.
General Chaudhry said that rumors and baseless hypotheses were often distributed against the military for political objectives. “When the Marka-E-Haq came, did the army not fulfilled its responsibilities? Has the nation already felt the absence of the army?” He asked.
He noted that the army had acted in accordance with the directives of elected governments – both at the federal and provincial level – on several occasions. He rejected the story that the people of Balutchistan moved away from the army, qualifying it as an Indian propaganda.
“We are the People’s Army. Balutchistan is part of Pakistan, and there is no separation between the two-it is the crown of our nation,” he said. Chaudhry added that federal and provincial governments worked in various sectors to improve the well-being and prosperity of the Balutchistan people.
