–Army chief Gen Bajwa will brief Senate and NA bodies on defence on LoC situation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa will brief lawmakers belonging to both houses of parliament on the recent tensions between India and Pakistan on Thursday at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
According to a notification issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the briefing will be attended by the members of standing committees of the National Assembly on Defence.
The opposition parties leaders, including former ministers, led by committee chairman Amjad Ali Khan will attend the briefing, said a statement released by the National Assembly Secretariat.
Other members of the committee include Tahir Sadiq, Chaudhry Farrukh Altaf, Syed Faizul Hassan, Barjees Tahir, Ijaz Ahmad Shah, Riazul Haq, Mohammad Khan Daha, Aurangzeb Khichi, Alam Dad Laleka, Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Ghous Bux Mahar, Khursheed Ahmed Junejo, Aftab Shaban Mirani, Amer Ali Magsi, Jamil Ahmed Khan, Syed Aminul Haque, Salahuddin Ayubi, Rubina Irfan and Ramesh Kumar Vankwani.
Defence Minister Pervez Khattak has also been invited as he is ex-officio member of both standing committees.
Meanwhile, Senate Secretariat also issued a list of members who will attend the briefing. A notification issued by the Senate Secretariat says that Chairman of Senate standing committee on defence Azam Swati will lead the members. The members who will be attending the briefing include Rehman Malik, Sherry Rehman, Anwarul Haq Kakar, Chaudhry Tanvir Khan, Khushbakht Shujaat, retired Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum, Kabeer Ahmed Mohammad Shahi, Javed Abbasi, Talha Mahmood, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Mushtaq Ahmed and Sajjad Hussain Turi.
This is the time second in this year that the army chief is briefing parliament on ties with India, that have significantly worsened after 44 Indian paramilitary personnel died in Pulwama bombing on Feb 14.
India blamed Pakistan for the terror attack and subsequently launched airstrike within its territory, taking the region on the brink of war. Pakistan in return shot down two Indian planes the next day and capturing the pilot.
In the backdrop of these events, the army chief had brief the lawmakers on Feb 27 in an in-camera meeting. Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, the director general (DG) of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) provided the military’s input to the meeting participants.
Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa was also in attendance, having accompanied NA Speaker Asad Qaiser and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to the meeting after the three separately discussed the national security situation.
