RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto said here today [Dec 15] that Defence Forces were `uppermost` in his mind and that his Government placed `the highest importance` in their affairs. He also reminded the Armed Forces of their `very onerous duty` to remain `ever vigilant and stay in a high state of preparedness` for the preservation of the sovereignty and integrity of the country. The Prime Minister was speaking on the occasion of presentation of Flying Brevets to the graduating Army Aviators at the Qasim Army Aviation Base, near here.

He said the only way Pakistan could find an honourable existence in this crisis-ridden world was through its own inherent strength.

The strength finds its roots in the nation at large, but it must essentially manifest itself in the determination of its Armed Forces to preserve the nation`s ... interests. ... The Army Aviators gave an air display which included parajumping, troop climbing, aerobatics by ... aircraft and breath-taking freefall ... by Special Services Group. The Premier pointed out that wars of today were increasingly placing more ... premium on modern technology and their correct application in the battlefield. News agencies