A visiting House of Commons, Defence Select Committee was assured that a foolproof command and control system was in place and there is no danger to its nuclear installations. The assurance was made by Nisar Memon, Chairman, Senate Defence Committee in a meting with eight-member House of Commons, Defence Select Committee, led by MP, James Arbuthnot.
The counterpart defence committees of Senate of Pakistan and the House of Commons discussed 'matters of mutual interest' during their meeting held on Monday.
Memon told the House of Defence Committee of Pakistan's readiness to fight all forms of terrorism, no matter whatever its origin. In his welcoming remarks, Nisar Memon went over Pakistan's and Britain's deep-rooted ties and said that the two countries were working closely on different bilateral regional and international issues, specially in the 'Pak-UK Defence Committee Forum (DCF), which has helped the two countries in opening a new vista in defence co-operation'.
Nisar Memon also restated Pakistan's firm commitment to democracy, citing the example of transition to a civil democratic culture following the February election, as an example.
The democratic tradition has increased the determination of Pakistan and its people to fight terrorism as well as to strengthen the economy further so that the country could achieve value added social development.
'There is a lot of upsurge in leaning towards democratic process, and discussion on defence budget which was presented for the first time ever in the Parliament was an evidence,' Memon stated. In this regard, he cited the example of breakdown of defence expenditure presented by the previous government and also discussed in earlier meeting of the Senate defence committee, as well as the recent presentation of defence expenditure during the present budget session, which was an evolutionary progress, observed Memon.
'We are committed to nuclear non-proliferation and we have an effective command and control system in place, and there is no threat to our nuclear assets. We are committed to fight terrorism, no matter where the threats came. At the same time, 'we must address the root causes responsible for threats of terrorism.'
In this regard Memon referred to increase in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, and said that earning through poppy cultivation is funding terrorists to purchase sophisticated weapons.
He also gave details of a series of constructive dialogues held with India to resolve a number of issues, including the core issue of Kashmir. The two countries have agreed to sponsor regular exchange of parliamentary delegations as a step towards developing greater understanding and information, intelligence and technical know-how sharing, added Nisar Memon.
James Arbuthnot, leader of British House of Commons Defence Committee, described the meeting of the two committees 'historic.' He also declared that the two countries attached importance to developing cordial relations, since they shared similar views on a number of regional and global issues.
In reply to a question Arbuthnot agreed that the world community should do more to help Pakistan in fighting the menace of terrorism. 'Pakistan had played a marvellous role in doing this.' In the meeting the British delegation offered condolence to the government and the people of Pakistan for those who lost their lives in the Islamabad terrorist activity of Sunday. Ms Rukhsana Zuberi, Saadia Abbasi, Professor Khurshid Ahmed, and Asif Jatoi, as well as Secretary Senate Raja Muhammad Amin were also present in the meeting.
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