The parliament decides
That parameters regarding the Pak-US relations are now being redefined by the parliament is a welcome development. Since 1977, a military dominated establishment had treated decision-making on crucial foreign policy issues as its exclusive domain. The decisions thus taken, without inputs from the political leadership and the foreign office, led to the isolation of the country in the region and, at times, in the world at large. The military-led establishment created in its laboratories the monster called the Taliban who after capturing Afghanistan turned the country into a safe haven for terrorists and a launching pad for the export of terrorism to China, Russia, and many other countries. The historic opportunity to improve Pak-India relations created by the Lahore Declaration was lost by the ill -conceived Kargil operation. Among other things, the operation led many traditional allies to accuse Pakistan of cross-border terrorism.
The recommendations formulated by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security centre round safeguarding the sovereignty of Pakistan. Thus, there is a rejection of any military activity by the US inside Pakistan including the drone attacks. They require a formal apology for the Salala attack and an assurance that actions of the type will not be repeated. The recommendation discouraging any verbal agreement regarding national security on the part of the government or any other ministry or department is quite understandable.
The Committee has formulated its recommendations after seeking inputs from political parties, the foreign office and the military leadership. The president and prime minister have already discussed them with major stakeholders. Whatever dotting of the i’s and crossing of the t’s was needed has already been done. The parliament would now put the final seal of legitimacy on it. It is now for everyone to discourage the forces of chaos like the so called Defence of Pakistan Council which has threatened to agitate if parliament was to allow the resumption of Nato containers’ traffic. It is for all organs of the state to ensure the supremacy of the parliament. What needs to be done in months to come is to take up other issues like ties with neighbouring countries to ensure a friendly environment in the region.
let us hope that the government will have the will and clout to act upon the recommendations of the committee .
we urgently need another parliamentary committee to identify the forces within the
country which keep questioning the sovereignty of the state and defying its writ with
impunity . These are greater threat to the country than Americans or other external forces
Don't we already have enough committees? What we need is courage to stand up for what we believe in (if anything) and force the people that WE elected to put the national interest first. The first thing committee members do is ask for preveliges and take foreign trips. Members of these committees have no clue about the subject matter that they might be exploring.
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