Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Sunday said that parliament would decide on reopening NATO routes and the government would develop consensus with other political parties on the issue.
“The government itself took the decision of blocking NATO supply, vacating the Shamsi airbase and boycotting the Bonn Conference,” he said while talking to reporters at Chaklala Airbase before departing for a four-day visit to Seoul, South Korea, to attend second Nuclear Security Summit on 26-27 March. Gilani said those steps had not been taken on the demand of the opposition. “On the very first day in the meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC), we had decided to close the NATO supply routes and the government should at least be credited for this,” he said.
Gilani said Pakistan wanted civil nuclear technology to meet its energy requirements. “Civil nuclear technology has been our requirement and we have been demanding it. Nuclear technology is important for Pakistan to maintain balance with India and to promote regional stability. If we do not have balance with India, then there will be lack of stability in the region,” he added. He said Pakistan had 40 years experience of using nuclear technology and it had an effective command and control system for the safety of its nuclear assets.
“This security system is beyond any doubt and is well protected,” Gilani said, adding that he would meet United States President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the summit and discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
Responding to a question, Gilani said the recent statements of the opposition made it evident that the government never bulldozed proceedings in parliament.
Gilani said the government had been taking the opposition along in the parliament on the matters of legislation and parliamentary proceedings. “Whenever amendments were introduced in the constitution and resolutions were adopted, our objective was to build consensus with other parliamentary parties,” he added.
He said all parties had representation in the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS). “The recommendations of the committee on foreign policy were not only of the government but the members of the opposition also put their signatures on them,” he said.
Arriving in Seoul later, the prime minister told Korean News Agency that allegations that Islamabad cooperated with North Korea’s nuclear program were unfounded and represented a thing of the past.
