“We have realised that unless our own house is in order, nothing good could be expected from outside,” army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said while speaking at the first-ever Islamabad  Security Dialogue on Thursday.

Pakistan has resisted the temptation to compete in the arms race despite rising security challenges, he added. "Our long campaign against the tide of terrorism and extremism manifests our resolve and will".

The chief of army staff (COAS) said that the country had come a long way, “yet we are a bit short of our final objective but we are determined to stay the course”.

Talking about CPEC, the army chief said that it has been at the heart of the country's economic transformation plan and "we have left no quarter to clear its necessities to address our economic problems".

"Our sincerer effort to make it inclusive, transparent and attractive for all global and regional players with the aim of bringing its benefit to everyone," he said. “Let me also emphasise that while CPEC remains central to our vision, only seeing Pakistan through the CPEC prism is also misleading."

Gen Bajwa further said that our immensely vital geostrategic location and a transformed vision make us a country of immense and diverse potential which can positively contribute towards regional development and prosperity.

"The vision however remains incomplete without a stable and peaceful South Asia. Our efforts for reviving SARC are therefor are for the same purpose," Gen Bajwa added.

Acknowledging that South Asia remains among the least integrated regions of the world in terms of trade infrastructure water and energy cooperation, he said: "On top of it, despite being impoverished, we end up spending a lot of our money on defence, which naturally comes at the expense of human development," he added.

The army chief maintained that the potential of the region remained hostage to the disputes between the two nuclear neighbours.

He stressed that Kashmir was at the heart of these disputes. “It is important to understand that without the resolution of the Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, the process, will always remain susceptible to derailment to politically motivated bellicosity."

Pakistan feels that it was time to bury the past and move forward whereas the onus for a meaningful dialogue lay with India.

"Our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in occupied Kashmir.”

"Our efforts for peace in Afghanistan and the responsible and mature behaviour with the crisis situation with India manifests our desire to change the geopolitical contestation to geo-economic integration," he said.

The army chief added that Pakistan was doing its bid but the major contribution is to be made by global players though their cooperation.

"I am sure that an economically integrated South Asia is much more suited to them instead of a war-torn, crises ridden and a destabilized zone," he said.

The COAS added that the world has seen the ravages of world wars and the Cold War, wherein polarisation and neglect of virtues blighted the future and brought catastrophic consequences for humanity.

"Today the leading drivers of change in the world are demography, economy and technology. However, one issue that remains central to this concept is economic security and cooperation," he said.

He further added that frayed relations between various powers centres of the globe and boomeranging of competing alliances can bring nothing but another stint of the Cold War.

We also have a hope to inform a new US administration that can transform the regional contestation into a gainful economical win-win for the world in general and the region in particular, the COAS added.

"South Asia can be the starting point of regional cooperation. I have a firm belief that human development can guide us into a future full of peace and prosperity and finally, it is time that we in South Asia create synergy through connectivity, peaceful co-existence resources sharing to fight hunger, illiteracy and disease instead of fighting each other.".