On March 20, the parliament is scheduled to begin a debate on the long-awaited review of future relationship with the United States.
The National Assembly and Senate will meet jointly for three days and will also discuss terms of engagement with the US and its NATO allies in Afghanistan.
Air raid on two border posts by the American fighter jets and helicopters in Mohmand tribal region in November and killing of 24 soldiers promoted the parliamentary review. Pakistani civilian and military leadership was quick to halt supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan via country’s land route and vacated a key air base from the US army in Balochistan.
The government had been under mounting pressure to reevaluate relationship with the US after the air strike as the Americans had refused to apologize for the action and even equated Pakistani forces for the strike on the Pakistani posts.
The Parliamentary Committee on National Security had been tasked to float recommendations to reassess ties with the US/NATO and Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces. The committee had already submitted its recommendations for the parliament debate. The parliament will also debate and decide the restoration of supplies for NATO troops, which has been suspended for four months. The country’s top civilian and military leadership as well as key allies met at a rare meeting last week to discuss the upcoming parliamentary review of future relationship with the US.
President Asif Ali Zardari had presided over the meeting in Islamabad and discussed strategy for the parliament meeting. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Air Chief Marshal Qamar Suleman and former intelligence chief, Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
Pakistan has already allowed NATO supply through its airspace, which also indicates a positive signal for restoration of land NATO supply route. Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar had hinted restoration of NATO land supply route with certain conditions, including levying of tax on NATO trucks and oil tankers. In return the US will also allow resumption of the equipment delivery to Pakistan which had been blocked after Islamabad closed the NATO supply line in November, the sources said. US Central Command Chief General James Mathis, who is likely to visit later this month, told reporters in Washington that he would discuss the plan of using the Pakistan land routes for the American troops at the time of withdrawal from Afghanistan.
