Pakistan: No service chief saw any conspiracy in cipher, ISPR says contradicting Imran Khan's claim
Islamabad: Director General (DG) of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar contradicted with former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's claim and said what services chiefs and the DG ISI stated in the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting clearly showed that there was no evidence of any conspiracy in the cipher, received from the US.
Speaking in a private television channel programme, Maj-Gen Babar told The News International it was a considered stance of the services chiefs, which was based on intelligence information and their opinion.
That was why no word of conspiracy was used in the NSC declaration, he added.
"A detailed briefing on the issue was given which was based on the intelligence information," he said.
The military spokesman said the issue of cipher was an issue of national security, and not a political one, adding that that was why the services chiefs and the DG ISI were also present at the NSC meeting, the agenda of which was already decided, with their input, which was based on intelligence-based information.
Babar Iftikhar pointed out what he said on Tuesday in response to a statement of former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, that it was not a political statement, rather it was a clarification on behalf of the services chiefs of Pakistan.
Babar was asked to comment on a statement of PTI leader Asad Umar, who termed the ISPR DG statement a political one.
“There was nothing political and it was a clarification on behalf of the services chiefs,” he said.
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