Parliamentarians across the political divide appreciated the comprehensive briefing on Monday by the ISI chief on national security, foreign affairs, internal and external challenges faced by the country and expressed satisfaction over the measures taken to counter the threats and tackle the challenges ahead.
The Parliamentary Committee on National Security met under the chairmanship of Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser at the Parliament House and was briefed by the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed about regional and political challenges, especially the situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir and Afghanistan.
Talking with media persons at the Parliament House, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the DG ISI gave a presentation while the Chief of the Army Staff responded to queries raised during the briefing.
He said the Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif and other opposition leaders also presented their points of view.
Qureshi said he also gave the government’s stance on the latest situation in Afghanistan, the progress made so far, and the government’s desire for the future of Afghanistan.
“The objective was to take the opposition leaders into confidence. They were taken into confidence and were apprised of the whole situation.”
He said that though he was bound not to reveal details of the in-camera session, the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere where both sides listened to each other’s viewpoints with patience.
Later, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif said: “The presentations were very good, and so were the questions and corresponding answers. The meeting was held in a very cordial atmosphere, and I think it went very well.”
However, he refused to comment whether there was a discussion on TLP or agreement with the TTP.
Interior Minister said the briefing was held in “a fantastic atmosphere.”
“Such an atmosphere should continue to prevail,” he said when probed about the details.
When asked whether there was any discussion about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s categorical stance of “Absolutely Not”, the Interior Minister replied in the negative.
The meeting was attended by members of the National Assembly and Senate, provincial leaders, the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir. Later, members of the committee presented their recommendations.
Several of the participants said they were impressed by effective measures taken by Pakistan’s elite intelligence agency in countering multiple threats; particularly from its eastern neighbor, which was also using the soil of Afghanistan for its ulterior objectives. They said due to its effective countermeasures, Pakistan was a safe country, for foreign investors and tourists, alike.
Participants also appreciated the success of these countermeasures because now only a limited number of intelligence-based operations were being conducted by the Pakistan Army as the hostile intelligence agencies were finding it difficult to carry out subversive activities.
A parliamentarian mentioned the successful operation by the ISI to bust the terror network being operated by a serving senior officer of Indian armed forces Kulbushan Jadev and said it was unprecedented to unearth such a complex network, hidden behind several layers.
The meeting was attended, among others, 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.
In the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee, 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, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Suri, Pervez Khattak, Asad Umar, Shafqat Mahmood, Dr Shirin Mazari, Dr Fehmida Mirza, Ali Amin Gandapur, Murad Saeed, Syed Shibli Faraz, Dr Forough Naseem, Ejaz Ahmad Shah, Monis Elahi, Noor Haq Qadri, Omar Ayub Khan, Syed Fakhr Imam, Syed Aminul Haq, Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security Moeed Yousaf, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, Chairman Kashmir Committee Shehryar Afridi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Political Affairs Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar,
Senate Leader Dr Shehzad Wasim, Members of the National Assembly Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Asad Mehmood, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Ghous Bakhsh Khan Mehr, Amir Haider Azam Khan, Nawabzada Shah Zain Bugti, Members of the Senate Sherry Rehman, Azam Nazir Tarar, Anwarul Haq Kakar, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Syed Faisal Ali Sabzwari, Mohammad Tahir Bizenjo, Hidayatullah Khan, Mohammad Shafiq Tareen, Kamil Ali Agha, Mushtaq Ahmed, Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, Mohammad Qasim and Dilawar Khan are participating.
Members of National Assembly Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Hina Rabbani Khar, Syed Naveed Qamar, Mohsin Dawar, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Tariq Sadiq, Syed Fayyaz Al Hassan, Aliya Hamza Malik, Senator Mian Raza Rabbani and members of the National Assembly’s defense committee also attended the meeting.
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