Professor Khurshid Ahmad on Thursday refused to attend the briefing of General David McKieran of Nato saying, 'he felt uncomfortable about a Nato commander briefing the Parliamentarians at the residence of US Ambassador.' Anne W Patterson, the US Ambassador to Pakistan had invited the Senator to attend the briefing by the General David Mckiernan of Nato on the current Afghan situation at her residence.
Thanking the Ambassador, Senator Khurshid said that "I wish Nato had contacted Pakistan Foreign Office to arrange for any briefing on this issue, provided the government of Pakistan also felt such a need." "I have serious reservations about the manner in which the Nato Commander and the US Embassy have thought it appropriate to contact the members of the Parliament for the proposed briefing," he added.
He said that if the Parliament had felt such a need it could have taken initiative in this respect. The viewpoint of the Parliament on this issue has been clearly articulated in the 14-Point Unanimous Resolution passed by the Joint Session on 22nd of October 2008.
He said that discourse and discussions are always useful in developing better understanding of issues which are controversial, efforts like this smack of lobbying and are not in keeping with the best traditions of diplomatic engagement and political dialogue.
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