The federal cabinet met here on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and took two important decisions while discussing various other issues on agenda.
One of the decisions involved the Olympic visa scandal about which the cabinet expressed regret and decided to take legal action against British newspaper The Sun, while the other important decision related with the approval of signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States envisaging terms of engagements and reopening of the NATO supply routes. The cabinet also discussed the Saudi offer of aid for Pakistan and relations with Afghanistan. The cabinet took serious notice of the publication of a fake story about passport scandal in Pakistan by the British newspaper, The Sun, and directed the Law Ministry to file libel suit against the newspaper as it was a question of prestige of Pakistan.
DG Passport Office Syed Wajid Ali and NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik briefed the cabinet about the alleged scandal. The cabinet members expressed concern over the issue and directed both the officers to adopt strict monitoring mechanism to avoid such incidents in the future. The cabinet noted that there was absolutely no question of issuance of fake identity cards or visas and slipping of any person to UK on the occasion of Olympics as necessary checks were in place at every stage. Briefing newsmen on the occasion about the fake passport scam, Chairman NADRA Tariq Malik said that the investigation conducted by NADRA had unearthed the facts in the fake scam orchestrated by the British newspaper. He said the paper didn’t even know that NADRA did not issue passports, it just prints them.
He said there was no fraud or illegal activity done while obtaining the National Identity Card (NIC) and passport by the alleged person named Mohammad Ali Asad. He said that Mohammad Ali Asad obtained NIC from NADRA in 2002. He later went to United Kingdom and got British nationality. He contacted NADRA office this month to update his photo. The chairman NADRA said that all the photographs of the person were matched and found correct. The chairman said that the publication of this fabricated story by the newspaper was designed to malign Pakistan. He said all possible steps would be taken on all fora to bring the culprits to justice.
MoU on NATO supplies: Briefing journalists, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira said that the decision to approve the signing of an MoU with the US regarding the reopening of NATO supply lines was in line with the parliamentary guidelines of having no hidden or unwritten agreement with any foreign country and every agreement to be made in black and white. He said that the draft MoU had been finalised after extensive consultations and input from all relevant ministries and armed forces.
The minister said that it was a step towards transparency in our foreign relations. To a question he said the MoU also envisaged details of goods that could transit and routes for supplies. He said the details would be shared with the people of Pakistan when the MoU was signed. The cabinet also allowed ministry of petroleum and natural resources to initiate talks with India to explore possibility of purchase of POL products. The cabinet noted that import of those products could be inexpensive due to proximity factor and there was also the possibility of Pakistan exporting Naphtha to India. The ministry was also allowed permission to initiate negotiations with India for import of RLNG. However, the final decision would be taken on receipt of terms and conditions and financing feasibility.
Relations with Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan: The prime minister briefed the cabinet about his visit to Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. He appreciated the Saudi gesture of 100 million dollar grant for Pakistan. Ashraf briefed the meeting about his bilateral meeting with the Afghan President and trilateral meeting with Afghan President and British Prime Minister. The PM said that during his visit to Kabul he conveyed in unequivocal terms that Pakistan wanted a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.
The cabinet held in depth discussions on Balochistan and formed a ministerial committee led by defence minister to talk to all stakeholders and come out with recommendations in one week. Replying to a question, the information minister said general elections would be held next year and the government would contact the opposition on caretaker setup when that stage would come. To another question he said the government had already submitted its response to the Supreme Court on NRO issue and the apex court had adjourned the hearing till August 8. He hoped that some solution would be found.