Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, Director General of Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) called upon Prime Minister Imran Khan at the PM Office, on Tuesday, to discuss matters related to national security.
A one-sentence press release issued by the government’s information department revealed that the two dignitaries discussed matters pertaining to national security, but did not offer any details on the matter.
DG ISI Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed called on Prime Minister Imran Khan at PM Office.
Matters pertaining to national security were discussed during the meeting. pic.twitter.com/O7iKCuCFcT
— PTI (@PTIofficial) November 19, 2019
Matters related to National Security
It is important to note that DG ISI’s meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan comes in the backdrop of the Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s recent trip to Iran, and Director General Inter-Services Public Relations, Major General Asif Ghafoor’s statement that the government and the Pakistan Army are on the “same page”.
#TODAY #Pakistan in Pictures :
1: #ImranKhan , #DG ISI review national security
2: #ArmyChief Gen Bajwa called on President of Iran, @HassanRouhani and Iran's Supreme National Security Council Admiral Ali Shamkhani
3: Former Prime Minister Muhammad #NawazSharif Leaves For UK pic.twitter.com/n98RSH8JfS— Ghulam Abbas Shah (@ghulamabbasshah) November 19, 2019
Speaking to a private news channel, DG ISPR had said that there were no differences between the government and the armed forces. He stressed that the government and Pakistan Army remain on the same page, and the armed forces have a constitutional responsibility to extend its support to a democratically elected government.
Government, military on same page, says DG ISPR#ARYNewshttps://t.co/JZJQ0hGKiI
— ARY NEWS (@ARYNEWSOFFICIAL) November 18, 2019
Major General Asif Ghafoor rejected the various speculations and rumors trending on the media and clarified that the Army Chief and Prime Minister Imran Khan were in contact with one another.
Read more: Pakistan’s new spymaster: Lt Gen Faiz Hameed appointed new DG ISI
On November 15, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa had called on Prime Minister Imran Khan to deliberate upon matters pertaining to national security and sovereignty.
https://twitter.com/malik0oo/status/1195316904606543873
The Premier and Army Chief Bajwa held detailed discussions on the professional matters of the Pakistan Army. The two dignitaries also held wide-ranging discussions on the peace situation, developments across the region, the internal security situation and security arrangements on the western border. They also exchanged views on the ongoing developments of the longstanding dispute of occupied Kashmir.
Read more: India left out – Imran Khan and Army Chief join forces with US
Since assuming the Prime Ministerial Office, Prime Minister Imran Khan has held various meetings with the Army Chief and DG ISI to discuss the national security challenges faced by the country. These meetings increased in the backdrop of the ensuing tensions with India over the Pulwama incident in February this year, and later, when New Delhi unilaterally abrogated occupied Kashmir’s partial autonomy and began undertaking ceasefire violations, killing scores of civilians in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The brutal terror attacks that took place in Waziristan, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s tribal belts, targeting the Pakistan Army and other law enforcement personnel, also increased the pace of the meetings held between the Prime Minister, Army Chief and the Premier spymaster.