ISLAMABAD – A retired British Army officer Major-General (retired) JonathanDavid Shaw lauding ‘Bajwa doctrine‘ said that “now is not the time to askfor more from Pakistan; now is the time for the world to give more respectto Pakistan.”
Talking to British magazine ‘The Spectator’, former UK army generalexpressed that Pakistan, under the military command of Chief of Army Staff(COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has established law and order within itsborders.
Major-General wrote that the visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge toPakistan is “showcasing Pakistan as it is today” rather than the past, andthat the visit shows how Pakistan has transformed its internal securitysituation. He wrote it in an article for the Spectator magazine.
Jonathan Shaw recently visited Pakistan and visited various parts of thecountry. Major-General is a two-star in charge of Pakistan policy. TheOxford-educated General regularly writes for the Financial Times, Telegraphand Spectator.
“When I used to go to Pakistan regularly over the period 2009-10, I saw acountry facing an existential crisis. Pakistan harbours 2.7million refugeesfrom 1979 then 2001 invasions in Afghanistan,” wrote the army officer,noting that the real psychological turning point for the country came afterthe attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar in 2014, which killedaround 158 people.”
“I visited the Khyber Pass section of the 833km fence, with 700 guard fortsalong its route, soon to be augmented by CCTV and sensor devices. This $1bneffort has choked off the Haqqani and TTP terrorist networks, and in afurther sign of national CT resolve, all those on the US ‘watch-list’ inPakistan have been arrested. Much credit for this must go to the Chief ofthe Army Staff, General Bajwa. He was picked as COAS over the heads of moresenior officers on account of his strong pro-democracy attitudes.”
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He wrote that COAS General Bajwa has proved himself “an able interlocutorin trying to de-escalate tensions in Yemen, between KSA and Iran, and ofcourse in Afghanistan.”
Jonathan Shaw wrote that COAS Bajwa has focused on supporting the softeraspects of societal regrowth. General Bajwa told Jonathan Shaw for theSpectator article: “A strong army needs a sovereign economy.”
He went on to say, “His character and broad vision for the overall strengthof Pakistan explains why PM Imran Khan has recently extended him for asecond three-year term. And he is well-matched to his PM, who has shownstrength and courage with his anti-corruption drive, his “Peace andProsperity” agenda and his release of the Indian pilot shot down in thePulwama incident in Kashmir this February.”
He added: “As what has become known as the ‘Bajwa doctrine’ has it, now isnot the time to ask for more from Pakistan; now is the time for the worldto give more respect to Pakistan.”
