Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday informed the Senate that Dr Aafia Siddiqui has shown willingness to file a petition against her imprisonment by the US court.
In a written reply, he informed the Senate that Siddiqui is completely aware of her case status and she can only move the court against her punishment according to the US judicial system.
"Islamabad is continuously discussing Siddiqui's return to Pakistan with the US authorities and Pakistan's Consulate General in Houston is constantly in touch with her," he added.
However, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani referred the question to concerned committee of the House after Senator Talha Mehmood expressed dissatisfaction over the reply given by the minister.
The opposition MPs once again staged a walkout from the House against absence of the ministers. Senator Raza Rabbani said a ruckus was also created on Tuesday last upon absence of ministers, adding the government ministers remain absent during the Question Answer, for which they must not blame the opposition.
Qureshi also informed the House and said a total of 2,677 Pakistanis are detained in Turkey and of them 281 are imprisoned in jails whereas 2,396 are detained in detention centres across Turkey on account of illegal immigration to Turkey.
In reply to another question, he said presently 10 non-career diplomats were posted abroad and these included seven retired top officers from armed forces whereas the three others are: Masood Khalid (Punjab), Dr Maleeha Lodhi (Punjab) and Qazi M Habibullah (Sindh).
The former military officers included Maj-Gen Waqar Ahmad (retd) (KP), Maj-Gen Junaid Rehmat (retd) (Sindh), Maj-Gen Shahid Hashmat (retd) (Punjab), Air Marshal Shahid Kamal (retd) (Islamabad), Maj-Gen Zahid Mubashir (retd) (Punjab), Vice Admiral Waseem Akram (retd) (Punjab) and Maj-Gen Sajid Iqbal (retd) (KP).
He explained that non-career diplomats are appointed by the prime minister as ambassadors and high commissioners from various walks of life against 20 percent quota fixed for this purpose.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Swati said a committee has been formed to monitor the performance of non-career diplomats, adding these were appointed on the basis of their qualification and abilities.
However, the committee would be also looking into the fact whether the practice is fruitful or there is a need for improvement.
To a question, Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood said that the ranking of Pakistani universities had substantially improved and there were 23 Pakistan universities ranked in top 500 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asian rankings, 2019 and nine Pakistani universities ranked in top 1000 QS world ranking this year.
He noted that Nature, International Journal of Science, in its article on December 27 last year stated that Pakistan and Egypt had the highest rises in research output in 2018 and, according to estimates Pakistan and Egypt topped the list in percentage with rises of 25 per cent and 15.9 per cent in research output respectively.
To another question, he explained that during the last ten years, a total of 11,991 students (7,997 males and 3,994 females) completed their PhD degrees from local universities; of these 4,999 students belonged to Punjab, 3,024 to the federal capital, 2,300 to Sindh, 1,545 to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 66 to AJK, 54 to Balochistan and 03 to Gilgit-Baltistan. Likewise, some 2,160 students (1,767 males and 393 females) HEC scholars completed their PhD degrees from foreign universities during this period.
On the request of Senator Usman Kakar, the matter was referred to the House committee concerned, as he claimed Balochistan had not been given its due share.