Members of the opposition parties in the National Assembly on Tuesday urged the government to revisit its foreign policy and strengthen bilateral relations with neighboring countries, including Afghanistan, India and Iran.
Speaking on a motion, moved by PPPP legislator Shahida Rehmani, PTI's Dr Shireen Mazari said that there is no foreign policy of the country at the moment and it is resulting in contradictory statements on serious issues.
She said that Defence Minister Khawaja Asif while speaking on the floor of the house on Monday last said that Pakistan would keep the border with Afghanistan closed, but after a few hours Foreign Office announced to open the border for 48 hours, she said.
"Khawaja Asif lied about closure of the border and it is breach of the house. He should apologize for it," she demanded, saying that terrorism would not end by closing border with Afghanistan.
Mazari said that Pakistan should resolve the issue through negotiations with Afghanistan.
Shahida Rehmani said the government could not appoint a foreign minister to improve Pakistan's bilateral relations with other countries. The government should take the Parliament into confidence on its foreign policy with the United States, she said.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is not a panacea to all problems, she said, urging the government to improve the relations with other countries also, including Iran and Afghanistan.
Sahibzada Tariqullah of Jamaat-e-Islami asked the government to convene a joint session of the Parliament to review the foreign policy of the country. He said that peace in Afghanistan is a guarantee to peace in Pakistan, he said.
He also suggested the government to send a parliamentary panel to Afghanistan to discuss the current situation and de-escalate the tension.
JUI-F lawmaker Naeema Kishwar said that Afghanistan is a sovereign country and Pakistan needs to revisit its foreign policy for restoring cordial relations with the war-ravaged country.
MQM legislator Sheikh Salahuddin said that it is the government's responsibility to establish peace in the country and it should improve relations with Afghanistan and other neighboring countries.
MNA from Fata Shah Jee Gul Afridi said that Pakistan's bilateral trade with Afghanistan was $5.6 billion, but it has now reduced to $1.5bn. He said that Pakistan should formulate a policy to enhance its trade relations with Afghanistan.
PPP MNA Shazia Marri said that Pakistan's foreign policy has failed to achieve the desired targets and this needs to be reviewed at the earliest. She said that even the government has failed to figure out Kashmir issue clearly in its foreign policy.
Winding up the debate, Minister for States and Frontier Regions Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch (retd) said that Pakistan has cordial relations with all Muslim and Arab countries, and efforts are under way to improve relations with neighboring countries, as well.
"Our relations with Afghanistan have never been ideal, except for a period of three to four years, when Taliban were in power there," he said and added, "The civilian government and army leadership, on numerous occasions, tried to address Afghan government's reservations."
The minister said that terrorists have been using Afghan soil to carry out their terror activities in Pakistan and they have openly claimed responsibility for the recent terror attacks.
He said that Pakistan wants to improve relations with Afghanistan and even wants to cooperate with it in countering terrorism and extremism. "But, if Afghanistan wants to set up its relations with Pakistan on basis of dictation from India, it is totally unacceptable to us," he said.
The minister also said that it is privilege of the government to appoint a foreign minister or run the affairs by appointing a foreign adviser. He assured the house that Sartaj Aziz is acting as a proper foreign minister and trying his best to improve Pakistan's relations with Afghanistan and India.
Earlier responding to a call-attention notice, Parliamentary Secretary for Finance, Rana Muhammad Afzal, informed the house that housing and population census is going to begin in a few days across the country.
Rana Afzal said the provincial governments, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are on board for conducting the national census. He pointed out that after December 31, 2016, temporarily dislocated persons' status of displaced persons has been discontinued and now they are being considered as economic migrants. He said during census exercise they will be registered where they are presently living. He said linkage district has been mentioned in anyone's CNIC.
Abdul Qadir Baloch explained that 80 per cent of TDPs have been repatriated and the rest of them will be repatriated by April 30 this year.
The NA also adopted a resolution, urging the government to undertake expansion and up-gradation of Sukkur International Airport.
Through another resolution, the house called upon the government to take immediate steps to construct gates and protection walls around railways tracks passing through populated areas.
Another resolution adopted by the house urged the government to take steps to control unemployment in the country.
Eleven bills were introduced in the NA and they include; The Microfinance Institutions (Amendment) Bill 2017, The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2017, The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2017, The Children (Pledging of Labour) (Amendment) Bill, 2017, The Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health (Amendment) Bill, 2017, The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2017, The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2017, The Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Employment of Children Bill, 2017, The Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Private Money Lending Bill, 2017, and The Emigration (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
The chair referred these bills to the relevant standing committees for further deliberations.