Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz Monday told a parliamentary panel that the recent foreign inflow of $1.5 billion was actually an unconditional gift from Saudi Arabia which was deposited in the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FODP) account.
During a closed-door session of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired by Senator Haji Mohammad Adeel, the Adviser also strongly denied the reported government's plans to supply arms to the Syrian rebels or send arms to them through an alleged understanding between the government of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Haji Adeel, who later briefed the media about the in-camera session of the committee on matters including the recent visit by Saudi Crown Prince, Pakistan's official position on Syria, the reported secret visit by CIA chief and the reported threatening statement by Iranian Interior Minister, said the Adviser told the panel that $1.5 billion Saudi grant was deposited in the FODP account and in return Pakistan WAs not supposed to give anything to the kingdom.
The Adviser's revelations were confirmed by other committee members, including Mushahid Hussain Syed and Sughra Imam, who were also present at that in-camera briefing. When media drew the attention of the senators to the fact that the FODP account is now redundant and that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had indicated that the said amount was credited in Pakistan Development Fund (PDF), Mushahid Hussain Syed stated the obvious: it might have been a "slip of the tongue" or a deliberate attempt to confuse the facts by Sartaj Aziz.
Briefing the committee on Pakistan's position on Syria, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry strongly rejected the insinuations that Pakistan had changed its position on Syria under Saudi pressure and that Pakistan was selling arms to Saudi Arabia for use by Saudi sponsored anti-government rebels in Syria, terming these reports incorrect and baseless.
He said that Pakistan is a responsible state that takes its defence capabilities very seriously and it only sells arms through legal mechanisms and by abiding with all relevant national and international regulations which require End User Certification to prevent the buyer from onward sale or transfer of our products to any third party. "Pakistan rejected allegations regarding selling of arms for use in Syria. These allegations can blemish the good name of the country. All quarters are urged to act with responsibility and refrain from point scoring on such sensitive matters," reads the Foreign Office brief which was provided to the in-camera session of the panel. It stated that Pakistan has not changed its position on Syria under any pressure from Saudi Arabia. During the Saudi Crown Prince visit, it stated that the two sides only mentioned the need to enhance bilateral co-operation in the field of defence with the aim to have a mutually beneficial defence and security co-operation.
In this regard, the two countries have already signed three defence agreements including exchange of defence delegations, training programmes, and employment/deputation of our defence personnel in Saudi forces, the Foreign Office further told the committee.
"It shall be made clear that Pakistan's position, which is based on principles of international law, has been pursued by the government consistently without any change," it said, adding Pakistan while fully supporting territorial integrity of Syria, has joined the international community in demanding safe corridors for provision of humanitarian assistance to the affected areas in Syria.
However, the chairman of the committee said the members expressed their concern over the portion of the joint statement issued following the Saudi Crown Prince's visit in which the two countries agreed on a "transitional governing body" for a regime change in Syria.
He said that the Foreign Office, however, explained its position that the wording agreed in the joint statement was in line with our declared position and also the positions agreed unanimously by international community in UN Security Council, General Assembly and Human Right Council resolutions. The Foreign Office further told the panel that the Syrian authorities have also never raised the matter of change in our policy and instead appreciated Pakistan's principled position.
Earlier, the committee was informed that there are 4,700 Pakistanis in detention centers of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Foreign Secretary said that Pakistan's Jeddah mission has so far issued 3,448 emergency passports to Pakistani detainees at deportation centre and most of these detainees have reportedly been repatriated to Pakistan by the Saudi authorities.
Sartaj Aziz told the panel that due to the efforts of the government, Saudi authorities have legalised around 0.9 million illegal Pakistanis expatriates. Talking to media, Mushahid Hussain Syed said the committee also adopted a unanimous resolution condemning the recent terrorist attacks in China. Senator Sughra Imam said that former president Pervez Musharraf pushed Pakistan into a foreign war after receiving $120 from United States, adding that she feared that $1.5 Saudi aid could trap the country into another foreign war.