President Mamnoon urges defeating terrorist mindset for complete eradication of militancy

ISLAMABAD - President Mamnoon Hussain said on Friday that after defeating terrorism in battlefield, there was a need to crush the terrorist mindset as well.

Addressing the graduates of National Security and War Course here at National Defence College, the president said terrorism and extremism could be eliminated by promoting education.

The president said following the success of Operation Zarb-e- Azb, another national narrative needed to be determined to ensure peace in the country.

He said terrorists had exploited religion to spread hatred and anarchy by brainwashing the disadvantaged and less educated people.

“It is a matter of satisfaction that present leadership of Pakistan is working honestly to ensure national and regional security and the people are supporting the government in this historic struggle,” he said.

He expressed confidence that a bright and prosperous future was awaiting the country. President Mamnoon also suggested benefiting from the expertise of friendly countries in curbing militancy and extremism.

'There was a paradigm shift in the concept and understanding of national security, at state-centric to societal levels' he added.

President mentioned that the country’s geo-strategic location and events in the region had a direct impact on domestic situation as well as at its international standing.

He expressed satisfaction that new opportunities of employment were being generated with China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) adding the situation would be improved with operationalization of CPEC and urged the youth to learn requisite expertise to get maximum benefit from the emerging opportunities.

He said deprivation from essentials of life creates a sense of loss in the people which weakens the State and its institutions.

“If the government institutions and their officials discharge their responsibilities with commitment and in the spirit of faithfulness to the State, then I believe it would be easy to meet this challenge,” President Mamnoon said.

Mamnoon Hussain lauded the contributions of NDU in refining and defining national security concepts of the participants and enabling civilian policy-makers to acquire a better understanding of issues concerning national security.

He said the NDU’s course on national security was significant not only for the armed forces, but also for senior officers from friendly countries.

Congratulating the graduates, the president said they were now equipped with requisite skills to handle intricate and complex professional matters concerning national security.

He urged the graduates to focus on complementing the national response against the threat and challenges faced by the country.

The president gave away certificates among the participants of the course. President NDU Lt Gen (retd) Rizwan Akhtar in his speech said the NDU’s training courses were compatible with the changing global

scenarios.

Twenty-seven officers of civil bureaucracy belonging to police, secretariat audit and accounts, inland revenue and Pakistan administrative services attended the course.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, members of parliament and civil and military personnel attended the event.

–APP