The Newshour Debate: Pakistan Remains Defiant - Part 1 (10th Oct 2014)

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Friday (Oct. 10) said India should not misunderstand his desire for peace, asking it to immediately halt firing across the borders. Sharif asked India to immediately honour the sanctity of Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border and stop firing for durable peace, the Dawn reported. He was addressing a high-level National Security Committee meeting attended by select cabinet members, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, the three services chiefs and ISI chief. Sharif told the meeting that Pakistan's desire for peace should not be misunderstood and called upon India to immediately honour the sanctity of LoC and working boundary and halt firing for durable peace, the paper said. The meeting discussed the border tension with India and overall security issues. The top military leaders briefed the meeting about the latest situation along the LoC and International Border. Sharif was told that the Pakistani forces were only firing in defence and not targeting civilian areas. India and Pakistan have been trading heavy mortar and gun fire along the International Border and LoC since more than a week. The meeting also discussed the overall security situation and ongoing Zarb-e-Azb operation in North Waziristan. Sharif, who visited the areas yesterday, expressed satisfaction over the successful offensive to flush out terrorists from the area. Earlier, the chief of army staff General Raheel Sharif, naval chief Admiral Zakullah and Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz separately met with the prime minister and discussed matters pertaining to national security. In a debate moderated by TIMES NOW's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, panelists -- Sheshadri Chari, Convenor, Foreign Affairs Cell, BJP; Maroof Raza, Strategic Affairs Analyst; Col (Retd) RSN Singh, Former RAW Officer; Moshraff Zaidi, Columnist & Former Diplomat, Pakistan; Commodore (Retd) Jamal Hussain, Defence Analyst, Pakistan; Admiral ( Retd) Javed Iqbal, Defence Analyst, Pakistan -- discuss whether this is a face-saving attempt by the Pakistan after their military misadventure.