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Summary Pakistan forces have taken certain measures to avert repeat of 2 May-like operation.
The Defence secretary said in a meeting of the Abbottabad Inquiry Commission.Referring to the attack on Osama bin Laden compound, he explained that unlike an undefended civilian compound, our strategic assets are well protected and an elaborate defensive mechanism is in place. He said the US Abbottabad operation had an impact on the psyche of the nation in many ways and left indelible scars.The 4th meeting of the Inquiry Commission on Abbottabad Operation was held Saturday in the Committee Room of the Cabinet Division under the Chairmanship of Justice Javed Iqbal, former senior judge of the Supreme Court.Lt Gen (r) Syed Athar Ali, the secretary Defence, gave a detailed statement to the Commission explaining the salient features of the Defence Policy of Pakistan. He stated that the Defence Policy of Pakistan was approved by the Defence Committee of the Cabinet which is headed by the Prime Minister.He explained that the Defence Policy directs Joint Staff Headquarters (JSHQ) to formulate the Joint Strategic Directive. The Joint Strategic Directive (JSD) was issued in 2007 following extensively debated within the Armed Forces at JSHQ and acts as a main document for the Armed Forces for everything including their composition, structuring, development plans, training, methodology and employment strategy, etc. The JSD in turn issues specific instructions to the Armed Forces to prepare for countering the identified threat.He also apprised the Commission that none of the government departments, neither Ministry of Defence nor Joint Staff Headquarters or any military service, has ever considered the USA or Afghanistan a direct threat.The secretary Defence said that the incident has left very deep imprints on entire Pakistani nation in general and the armed forces in particular. He added that the Pakistan armed forces are now better prepared to respond to any such recurrence, adequate safeguards have been taken. Defence forces have instituted certain measures to preclude possibility of such a recurrence in future accordingly.The meeting was attended by Abbas Khan, IG (r), Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, and Lt Gen (r) Nadeem Ahmed, members of the Commission. Next meeting of the Commission will be held after Eid holidays.
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