PCNS presents 35 recommendations under 3 headings

The Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) has categorised its 35 recommendations under three headings: review of foreign policy, respect to the country’s red lines by the ISAF and US forces, and new terms of engagement with the US in the war on terrorism.
A source in the PCNS told Pakistan Today that the committee had called upon the government to formulate a new and independent foreign policy seeking respect of its sovereignty by its friends, and maintain relations with the international powers on the basis of equality, recommending that all its interactions, engagements and relations be based on mutual interest and mutual respect.
FOREIGN POLICY: “The committee has asked the government to adopt a policy which should make our international friends and partners recognise our commitment to pursuing an independent foreign policy. They must understand that a country like Pakistan cannot be persuaded to follow a course in its foreign policy which does not pass the litmus test of meeting its interests,” said the source, adding that if Islamabad could exercise autonomy in its decision-making, there was no reason to believe that it could be coerced into following a foreign policy dictated by another country. The source said the committee gave outlines for the country’s foreign policy on the basis of creating conditions where the country could focus on the economic development of its people by improving bilateral relations with its immediate neighbours, the countries in the region and all the major powers in the world, including the US.
“Development of good relations with all major powers may add to the ability of the government to pursue an independent path as dictated by its national interests. This may provide the government the leverage and space to pursue an independent path in the comity of nations, including cooperation with the US. In return, all friendly states must respect the sovereignty of our nation,” he said.
RED LINES: The source said the committee has also advised the government to make it clear to the friendly states through the joint parliamentary resolution that the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected at all costs. “Pakistan should make it clear that its territorial integrity is the nucleus of its policy of engagement and cooperation. The committee has also called upon the government that the US must be asked to bring an end to breach of the country’s sovereignty through its drone operations. Moreover, no air space should be offered to any country for making attacks in the war against terror,” the source said.
The source said further that besides denying air space to foreign powers, the government should also shun the use of its air bases and seaports by foreign troops. “The US and other states should keep in their mind that Islamabad’s cooperation in the war against terrorism should not be taken as its weakness, and rather it was a unanimous decision by the nation at war against extremist forces,” said the source, and added that the committee had recommended to the government to make it clear to the world that no misadventure like the May 2 operation should be repeated in breach of Pakistan’s territorial integrity.
NEW TERMS OF ENGAGEMENTS WITH US: The source said that about new terms of engagements with the US and ISAF forces, the committee had called for a review of all agreements with the US including the nine agreements signed by the government of former president Pervez Musharraf after 9/11 since “those agreements were signed by a regime headed by a dictator who had come through the back door and had no legal authority”. The source said the committee had recommended further that those agreements were never submitted to the country’s parliament and hence were illegal by all means.
The source said the parliamentary committee suggested to the government some specific amendments, additions and deletions to some of the agreements signed between the US and Pakistan and cautioned that some agreements needed an immediate review to ensure the country’s sovereignty. “The committee has also asked the government to take the nation into confidence whether or not some verbal agreements had been agreed upon on drone operations into Pakistan’s territory by the former dictator and also slash all such agreements,” the source added. He said agreements that allowed use of air bases and supply routes to assist the US and ISAF forces needed an immediate review and all such agreements should be given a second thought. Moreover, he said, the committee asked the government to put all these agreements in parliament and get its nod to make its cooperation legal.