Speakers at the PINA seminar on “Abottabad Operation and Challenges to National Security” condemned the US operation in Abottabad and stressed upon the ‘saner elements in the Obama administration’ to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty and desist any action that may damage Pak-US relations. The seminar called for an independent inquiry into the intelligence and air defence lapses, the 7,000 visas’ scam leading to CIA’s penetration into Pakistan and lack of coordination among state institutions.
The seminar held that the parliament should effectively oversee national security, regulate the institutions of Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) and the functioning of the national intelligence setups. The participants demanded formulation of a ‘national security policy/strategy’ to meet the security related challenges, dismantling of the CIA’s covert network in Pakistan and keeping American military’s presence in Pakistan to minimum. Speakers agreed that the parameters of the Pak-US relations should be redefined to protect Pakistan’s interests.
The seminar was presided over by an eminent lawyer and former defence minister Shahid Hamid and was addressed by legislators, defence analysts, national security experts and columnists. PINA Secretary General Altaf Hasan Qureshee appealed the people to understand the US designs, which through the Abbottabad operation aimed at creating a chasm between the people and the armed forces, also keeping the ISI under pressure. Senator SM Zafar said the nation should not fall prey to US designs and suggested that the exit of those held responsible should be voluntary or either through internal accountability. He proposed that Pakistan should initiate dialogue with the ‘Pakistani Taliban’ to restore peace in the country.
Brig (r) Farooq Hameed Khan highlighted the role of the political leadership towards the formulation of the ‘national security policy/strategy’. He regretted that the DCC, which was the country’s supreme national security body and was headed by the prime minister, had rarely met in last three years. Even the defence minister who heads the Defence Council hardly convened its meeting. He expressed concern that the country was also without a foreign minister and a national security advisor.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Central Vice President Vice Admiral (r) Javed Iqbal said the US operation displayed complete failure of our political, military and intelligence infrastructure. He suggested that the intelligence agencies needed to be regulated by the parliament. Col (r) Mahmood Shah, a veteran ISI officer, claimed the CIA recruits educated and skilled people from corridors of power and civil society and ‘terminated’ them once results were achieved. He stated that if the nation fell into the ‘enemy’s trap’ to weaken the country’s intelligence agencies, Pakistan’s security will be adversely affected.
