TAXILA: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said Pakistan's defence preparation and operational readiness is to ensure peace within and peace without.

He was speaking at the handing over ceremony of Tank Al Khalid-I to Armored Corps Regiment at Heavy Industries Taxila today (Tuesday).

The Army Chief, however, said if provoked we shall respond and respond with all our might.

He lauded the efforts of Heavy Industries Taxila towards attainment of self-reliance and manufacturing of world class indigenous defense products, direly needed in evolving security environment.

The Army Chief expressed his confidence, satisfaction and appreciation for Heavy Industries Taxila's state of the art products and capabilities.

Tank Al Khalid-I is a joint venture with friendly countries China and Ukraine.

During the ceremony, Tank Al Khalid-I displayed some of its outstanding capabilities including mobility, speed, Bi-axis gun stabilization of the control system and use of smoke screen to mask movement.