Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said on Monday that Pakistan has not handed over the Angoor Adda checkpost to Afghanistan. Clarifying the situation, Foreign Secretary further explained before a joint meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Foreign Affairs that Army has constructed a gate only for the Kabul government in Afghan area of the checkpost as a gift. He negated the impression that Angoor Adda has been handed over to Kabul.
The checkpost is on the Pakistani soil while its gate is in the Afghan territory. A joint meeting of the Senate Committees of Defence and Foreign Affairs was held on Monday. The meeting was co-chaired by Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and Senator Nuzhat Sadiq. In a two-hour-long meeting, Senators expressed their views on a variety of issues. Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry and Defence Secretary, Lieutenant General Alam Khattak (Retd) responded to questions.
The Foreign Secretary further said that the US drone strike had been an attack on Pakistan's sovereignty. He stated that currently they were investigating the issue of whether Mullah Mansoor's passport had survived the drone strike. He said the authorities were also investigate whether his passport was a fake document. According to the record at Taftan Check Post, Mullah Mansoor was returning from Iran, he added. Secretary Foreign Affairs said that ups and downs in relations between two countries were not something new. Pakistan's growing closeness with China and the CPEC project was the major reason behind a friction in Pak-US ties. Another reason behind tension between Pakistan and the US was the recent closeness of the latter with India.
He said that only Pakistan and China will not gain from the CPEC project but the entire region will benefit from it. Kandahar province in Afghanistan will be the first to benefit from the CPEC project. Aizaz maintained that the United States has been informed that there will be no compromise on Pakistan's nuclear programme. He said that Pakistan's policy was clear; it doesn't differentiate between 'good' and 'bad' terrorists. Nor will Pakistan allow its territory to be used against any country. Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghan refugees despite difficulties. Terrorists from Afghanistan take shelter in the camps of Afghan refugees.
Defence Secretary made it clear that the issue of F-16 planes was now a closed chapter as May 24 was the last date to accept the American financial terms which had already been rejected. He said that Pakistan is now looking for other options as it is mulling buying F-16 planes from Jordan.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz talked of a major realignment in Pakistan's policy in the context of the strategic shift in American attitude. He termed relations with China and the initiation of the CPEC as the biggest achievement of Pakistan's foreign policy since it will promote connectivity with China, South Asia, Central Asia and the entire region.
He further said that it was not about accepting American pressure on a particularly policy but the issue was that Pakistan faced choices in keeping with its national interests and Pakistan made choices that were in its national interest which may not necessarily be congruent with the US interest. For instance, he cited the American pressure on Pakistan's nuclear and missile programme which Pakistan had rejected since it was against Pakistani national security.
In his opening remarks, Senator Mushahid Hussain said the public hearing had two goals, namely, to get clarity from the government regarding the current status of Pakistan-US relations and to propose a national strategy and a way forward to preserve, protect and promote Pakistan's core interest in a rapidly changing region plus a strategic shift in the US Asian policy. Senator Nuzhat Sadiq also said that our approach is non-partisan, national and forward-looking.
Senator Mushahid Hussain underscored the need for institutionally strengthening the Foreign Office so that institutional decision making by National Security Committee, Defence Committee of the Cabinet and the Defence Council be promoted instead of a reactive ad-hoc approach. He also underlined the need for harmony between Khaki and Mufti on issues of foreign policy and national security so that all relevant stakeholders are on the same page.
In this regard, Mushahid referred to inexplicable 24-hour official silence on the killings of Osama bin Laden in May 2011 and Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in May 2016. The members of parliament presented comprehensive suggestions on parliamentary diplomacy which could achieve better results by efficiently promoting the national interest. All the members expressed their views and gave specific proposals on issues of foreign policy and national security. Senator Nuzhat Sadiq asked about diversification of foreign policy with a reference to relations with Russia.
Senator Mushahid Hussain urged that given the fact that in the past parliament had played a proactive role in resolving the Salala crisis in 2011-12 by preparing new terms of engagement with the United States, the time had come to re-visit this issue. He proposed that a Committee of the whole of the Senate under the leadership of Chairman Senate could discuss vital issues of national security by inviting all the relevant stakeholders so that an effective and doable way forward is formulated.
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