Pakistan Successfully Tests Missile-carrying Drone and Laser-guided Missile

Now that Pakistan has conducted successful tests for a locally built armed drone named “Burraq,” and a laser-guided missile, “Barq,” India and the U.S. should abstain from actions that challenge our security. Armed drone “Burraq” and laser-guided missile “Barq” will prove effective in all kinds of weather. According to Inter-Services Public Relations, both stationary and moving objects were successfully targeted by the drone aircraft; laser-guided missiles were also fired.

Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif viewed the test-firing of “Barraq” and “Barq” and congratulated the nation, engineers and scientists on these accomplishments. He said that today we have crossed an important milestone in the area of Pakistan’s defense; he expressed commitment that the drone aircraft would help in fighting terrorism and promoting the Pakistani army’s operational capabilities. Both weapons have the capability of targeting objects with high accuracy. The army chief called it a historic day and invited the nation to unite in carrying the defense of the nation forward.

According to the BBC, a cruise missile, “Ra’ad,” with stealth technology, had been tested successfully by Pakistan prior to this. Defense experts are calling the preparation of “Burraq” and “Barq” an important development in Pakistan’s missile technology capability. The army chief was also given a briefing on the control and command system for drones and missile technology on this occasion.

Where the country’s defense is concerned, the professional expertise and capability of Pakistan’s military forces is beyond any shadow of a doubt; the capabilities of the military forces of Pakistan are such that the nation can hold its head high with pride. However, so severe are the threats and challenges confronting the homeland on both internal and external fronts at this time that increasing the defense capabilities of the army as much as possible is necessary for the security of the country.

India, our archenemy, has posed a threat to our country’s security from the very first day. It made us face the tragedy of the downfall of Dhaka in the war of ’71 and since that time has wasted no opportunity to conspire to undermine the security of the remaining Pakistan. It is for the sake of this objective and plan that India has sought to make its defense invincible; on the strength of its military defense capabilities, it also continues to try to dominate other countries in the region. To accomplish these objectives, every Indian ruler in power has raised the defense budget.

Under the current rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party government, in particular, war mongering has been heightened in India, aimed at destroying Pakistan. This is seen in India’s almost daily one-sided and unprovoked firing and shelling at the control line for the last eight months. Further, last month’s increase of $4 billion for defense expenditure raised India’s defense budget to $40.7 billion, which is very close to Pakistan’s overall budget. India is using 14 percent of its overall budget for increasing its defense capabilities, which includes the purchase of nuclear technology and the latest arms and ammunition from the USA, France, United Kingdom, Germany and Russia to build stockpiles of combat equipment, including fighter aircraft and navy submarines; it is Pakistan’s integrity that is the most threatened by India’s aggressive expansionist designs. In fact, India is often seen challenging Pakistan’s integrity.

In this context, we definitely need to take solid steps for the protection of our integrity and to increase our defense budget suitably for this purpose. There is no doubt that our military leadership is richly endowed with God-given capabilities for meeting any threat to the homeland; we are justly proud of our scientists and engineers, too, who have employed all means, including nuclear technology, for strengthening the country’s defenses. Had it not been for our nuclear capability, India, which harbors fanatical designs against our integrity, would have swallowed us up long ago. It is because of this deterrent only that it has not dared to impose a new war on us. Through its agents working in Pakistan, however, it is perpetually involved in conspiracies for tearing Pakistan’s integrity to shreds by fanning chaos and terrorism. No doubt, several other factors for promoting terrorism, including sectarianism, are also at work in Pakistan. These factors allow India opportunity to take advantage of weaknesses within Pakistan.

The USA, too, has made Pakistan the target of its drone attacks for the last eight to nine years in the name of pursuing terrorists: a situation that amounts to challenging the country’s integrity. Hence, for the sake of protecting the country’s integrity, it is imperative to further strengthen the country’s defenses to make them invincible on internal and external fronts. In this context, Pakistan made progress in improving its missile technology and its air force capabilities. Further, with help from China, it also secured the capability to build modern warships; it has also conducted successful tests for air-to-air missiles that target enemy warheads.

The Pakistani air force had already mastered drone technology during the term of the last government; however, the range of its drones was less than that of American drones. Now, by the grace of God, the successful test firing of the armed drone “Burraq” has placed Pakistan in the same line with the four countries of the world that possess drone technology. By means of the laser-guided missile “Barq,” it has acquired the capability of destroying static as well as moving targets in the air or on the ground. Undoubtedly, this historic success in increasing defense capabilities will help the military forces of Pakistan to reach the abodes of terrorists who pose a threat to Pakistan’s integrity, while also strengthening the country’s capacity to frustrate any external aggression. On these accomplishments, military, as well as civil leaderships, are rightfully deserving of congratulations.

Now, following the successful test firing of the missile-carrying drone “Burraq,” we are in a position of convincing the U.S. in clear terms that it should permanently cease its series of drone attacks that challenge our integrity because we, ourselves, with improved capabilities, are dealing with the terrorists in a better manner. It is important to give this solid message to the U.S. for this reason, but also because, just the other day, the U.S. carried out a drone attack in the Pakistan-Afghanistan boundary region, in which six people were killed, including two terrorist commanders. Seeing that Pakistan itself has the capability to carry out such actions against the terrorists — a practical demonstration of which was presented the other day when jet aircraft of Pakistan’s air force bombarded the abodes of terrorists in Tirah Valley, leaving 48 terrorists dead and numerous injured, who were later captured — the U.S. has absolutely no need to conduct activities within our air or land boundaries in the name of fighting terrorism.

The message to the U.S. from the successful testing of the “Burraq” drone and “Barq” laser-guided missile the other day is that it should now cease and desist on challenging our security and our sovereignty through its drone attacks. The troops of Pakistan are fully capable of countering India’s aggressive war ambitions. The BJP government should now desist from tampering with Pakistan; otherwise, the consequences of its fanaticism will have to be borne by the whole world in the form of the destruction of regional and world peace.