“We shall continue to improve upon it,” he reiterated while addressing the Armed Forces Officers of Islamabad and Rawalpindi Garrisons here at the Army Auditorium.

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Ehsan Ul Haq, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mehmood Ahmed, Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ahsan Saleem Hyat and a large number of senior serving officers of the three services attended the address.

The President dwelt at length on professional matters pertaining to the Armed Forces, international and regional environment and their relevance to the security of Pakistan.

Talking about professional matters, the President showed full confidence in the defensive deterrence, which is potent and much credible than ever before.

In the conventional field, he said that induction of hi-tech weaponry to enhance the fighting punch of the three services is proceeding as per the envisaged force goals.

Restructuring of the Army has resulted in improving teeth to tail ratio while making resources available to add to the Army’s potency, he added.

The President spoke about the international and regional environment and explained Pakistan’s place in the whole scenario.

He said this world is a common heritage and any sane person would desire to improve it and make it a safer place.

Towards this end, he emphasized upon the resolution of lingering disputes, which are mostly impacting Muslim Ummah and the role being played by Pakistan in this regard.

The Presdient gave an overview of the domestic environment and clearly spelled out four areas which are and will continue to be his focus. These included economy, combating militancy and extremism, efforts to sustain democracy and strengthening national integration.

Explaining, he said having revived the country’s economy, the focus is now on sustaining its growth and transferring the benefits to the people.

Combating militancy and controlling extremism in the society is and will continue to be his focus, the President added.

The President said that after having introduced democracy, “we have to sustain it and address those areas which lead to its derailment”.

The fourth area of his focus, he added, is to address critical issues which weaken us from within and strengthen national integration.

Talking about transferring the benefits to the people, he said that we have to reduce poverty, control inflation, improve quality of life of the people and improve the quality of human resources. He explained the strategies, which have been put in place to achieve these goals.

The President dilating upon developments in Balochistan said that the government has announced an unprecedented development package for the people of the Province which has been done for the first time in the country’s history.

He said all efforts were being made to bring Balochistan at par with other provinces.

But at the same time, he said, improvement in law and order situation is the responsibility of the government. The President made it clear that no one will be allowed to challenge the writ of the government at any cost and any time.

He said that extra measures are being introduced for job creation in various Federal Government departments for the people of Balochistan.