PCNS meeting: Pakistan desires peoples’ representative govt in Afghanistan

• Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) meets in NA.
• COAS Bajwa, DG ISI, AJK PM, Shahbaz, Bilawal, others attend.
• Committee gets briefing on internal, external challenges.

The Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) — comprising National Assembly (NA) and Senate members — was told that Pakistan desired a peoples’ representative government in Afghanistan and Islamabad would continue all-out support for peace and stability in Kabul.

A statement, issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, said the meeting took place under the chairmanship of the Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser in the Parliament House, where parliamentarians were briefed on national security, foreign affairs, and internal and external challenges faced by the county.

National parliamentary and political leadership, MNAs and Senate, provincial leadership, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi, and military leadership participated in the meeting, the statement said.

Pakistan played a responsible and positive role for peace in Afghanistan, the committee was told. It was further apprised that Pakistan believes that peace in Afghanistan would pave for regional peace and development.

The participants of the meeting were informed that Pakistan is making every effort to ensure that the current situation does not give rise to another humanitarian and economic crisis which would add to the plight of the people.

Hopes of Afghan soil to not be used against Pakistan

In this regard, Pakistan is in constant touch with the international community. "It was also hoped that the territory of Afghanistan would not be used against Pakistan."

The meeting was also apprised about the border control system on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The statement mentioned that parliamentary and political leaders expressed satisfaction with Pakistan's strategy to tackle internal and external challenges and expressed good wishes for the prosperity, development, and progress of Afghanistan.

"They also said that such meetings paved way for harmony and unanimity of views on national issues," the statement said.

The participants were briefed about regional and political challenges, especially the situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and Afghanistan, the statement said.

At the end of the briefing, a question and answer session was held in which the members of the committee presented their recommendations, the statement said.

The attendees

In the meeting, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjarani, Leader of Opposition in National Assembly and Senate Shahbaz Sharif and Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Muhammad Qasim Khan Federal ministers Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry, Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Pervez Khattak, Asad Umar, Shafqat Mahmood, Shireen Mazari, Ali Amin Gandapur, Murad Saeed, Syed Shibli Faraz, and other were present.

Senators Sherry Rehman, Azam Nazir Tarar, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Syed Faisal Ali Sabzwari, and others participated.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, MNAs Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry, Raja Pervez Ashraf, and Hina Rabbani Khar, and others attended.

Chief ministers of all the four provinces attended the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, DG ISI Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, DG ISPR Major General Babar Iftikhar, and other senior military officers.