Pakistan's new army chief says he will defend 'motherland' during visit to disputed Kashmir Pakistan's

CNA

Pakistan's new army chief says he will defend 'motherland' during visit to disputed Kashmir Pakistan's new army chief said on Saturday (3 the Line of Control (LoC) dividing the disputed region of Kashmir, which is owned by both Pakistan and neighboring India. 

The visit came less than a week after General Asim Munir took over Pakistan's powerful army and was among his strongest public  statements on arch-rival India since taking office. 

Let me state categorically that Pakistan's armed forces are always ready not only to defend every inch of our homeland, but also to take the fight  to the enemy if  war is ever forced upon us," he said, according to a statement from the military's media wing. "The Indian state will never be able to to carry out his nefarious plans."

The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. The two South Asian nuclear powers  claim the entire Kashmir region  but control only parts of it and have fought two of their three wars over the area. 

Both sides often accuse each other of violating a 2003 ceasefire pact by gunfire and gunfire across the LoC, a 740km de facto border that cuts Kashmir in two. and Pakistan. 

Pakistan's generals retain  strong sway over security  and foreign policy, analysts say, and Pakistan's army chief will play a key role in managing risks of conflict with India on its eastern border, while also managing possible friction with Afghanistan on its western border.