ISLAMABAD: A number of cadets from Iraq, Palestine and Qatar were among recruits who completed their training at the Pakistan Military Academy on Saturday, the Pakistani military said, as Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa presented awards to distinguished graduates. 

The Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, Abbottabad provides initial training to cadets of Pakistan Army as well as recruits from friendly countries, including Saudi Arabia and others from the Middle East and elsewhere in the world. 

The army chief reviewed the passing-out parade and gave awards to distinguished cadets. 

“Passed out cadets were of 146th PMA Long Course, 34th Technical Graduate Course, 65th Integrated Course, 20th Lady Cadet Course and 5th Basic Military Training Course,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, said in a statement. 

“Cadets from Palestine, Maldives, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Iraq were also among the passed out courses.” 

In his address to attendees and passed-out cadets, Gen Bajwa said Pakistan Army, with full support and confidence of the nation, had successfully “turned the tide against the menace of terrorism” in the last two decades and ensured that “organized terrorism” was decisively rooted out from Pakistan. 

“This is indeed a unique accomplishment that not many countries or armies can claim,” he said. 

He told the passed-out cadets that a just and impartial commander, who exhibited merit in dispensation of reward and punishment, would earn unconditional loyalty and obedience of his under-command. 

“As a leader, you need to have courage and ability to take difficult decisions and then accept full responsibility. Correct decision-making requires competence and confidence,” the army chief said. 

“The contagious energy that you would instill in your men, when you lead them by example and not merely by words.” 

He urged the officers and graduates to always remain alert and prepared to respond to and defeat all intrigues and conspiracies hatched against Pakistan with an iron fist. 

Gen Bajwa said the message was clear: “The Armed Forces with the support of our citizens will never allow any country, group or force to politically or economically destabilize Pakistan.”