ISLAMABAD, May 20: Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has praised the nation for defying the dictates of extremists and reaffirming its commitment to moderation by participating in the May 11 elections.

“In these elections, people of Pakistan not only courageously withstood the threat of terrorism, they also defied unfounded dictates of an insignificant and misguided minority,” he said at an international symposium on countering improvised explosives devises (IEDs) held at the military’s general headquarters in Rawalpindi on Monday.

The symposium was attended by delegates from 28 countries and a number of Islamabad-based diplomats. Third in a series, the symposium has become an annual event; the first was on de-radicalisation held in Swat in 2011.

Some of the speakers also congratulated the country for successfully holding the elections despite a strong terrorist threat.

The Chief of Army Staff said: “As a nation we are peace loving people. Overwhelming majority of our people is moderate, resilient and extraordinarily hardworking… Our commitment to moderation, prosperity and rule of law is total and unwavering. We have the resolve and a firm belief to overcome the challenges towards attainment of these goals.”

He said Pakistan had benefited from the experiences of other countries in the fight against terrorism.

“In pursuit of global peace, we have to respond to this enemy equally innovatively while always staying a step ahead,” Gen Kayani said.

He described IEDs as a new dimension of threat to people and law- enforcement agencies but pointed out that it was not a Pakistan-specific issue. Even the most developed countries are vulnerable to the threat as showed by the Boston bombing in which home-made explosive was used.

He said thousands of Pakistanis had been killed in IED attacks, but the issue was often discussed in the context of Afghanistan and the smuggling of precursor material — calcium ammonium nitrate — into that country where IEDs had become most potent weapon of Taliban militants.

About the counter-IED strategy being developed by the army as the lead agency, he said it aimed at creating awareness, assisting legislation, adopting best practices from across the world, suitably equipping security forces and effectively training them.

He called for a comprehensive global approach to deal with the problem and proposed a regional organisation on countering IEDs.

“I am hopeful that with the support and collaboration of international community, Pakistan and the region will overcome the menace of IEDs. Our success will hinge upon adopting a focused and multilayered approach, improving upon the ability to work with partners around the globe and at all levels of government and the private sector; to monitor, protect against and ultimately reduce the threat of an IED being used successfully.

“We must continue to coordinate our efforts, commit the required resources and maintain the hard-earned counter-IED experiences,” he said.