ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said that recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS), currently reviewing the Pakistan-US relationship, will require parliament's endorsement before implementation.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly while responding to criticism levelled by some members for delaying implementation of the resolution adopted by parliament three years ago which called for a review of the foreign policy, Ms Khar said the review of the foreign policy was a continuous process.“The revisit takes place on daily, weekly and monthly basis,” the foreign minister said during the question hour when a PML-Q MNA Bushra Rehman asked why the government waited for the Salala incident to take place before announcing a full review of the foreign policy whereas a green light for the same had already been given in the resolution passed by parliament during an in-camera joint session of parliament in 2008.
Ms Rehman said it was a pity that the government kept on delaying the implementation of the resolution till the time it was forced to order a review after the Nato attack on the border post.
PML-N MNA Tasneem Siddiqui asked the foreign minister to inform the house if the government had blocked Nato supplies permanently or it was a temporary decision.
Ms Khar said it was not possible for the government to abruptly terminate agreements and understandings made with the US by the previous regime. She said the Nato attack had now provided an opportunity for Pakistan to review its terms of engagements with the US.
The minister said some people rightly believed that Pakistan could have taken this step after the unilateral US operation in Abbottabad in May last year, but reminded that it was also a fact that Osama bin Laden was found and killed on Pakistan's soil.
She said the matter was now being discussed at the PCNS and any decision about restoration of Nato supplies and Pakistan-US relationship would be taken on its recommendations. She, however, said the PCNS recommendations would be implemented only after getting an endorsement by parliament in a joint sitting. She did not give the date for the planned joint sitting or the timeframe for the PCNS to complete its job.
MFN STATUS: Earlier, responding to various supplementary questions by members, Federal Minister for Professional and Technical Training Riaz Hussain Pirzada and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar defended the government's decision to grant the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, saying it would be beneficial for Pakistan.
Responding to a query by PPP's Jamshed Dasti, Ms Khar said that the trade through the Line of Control in Kashmir was in the priority list and efforts would be made to enhance trade between the two countries through various points at LoC.
Similarly, Mr Pirzada said keeping in view the sensitivity of the issue because of past tense relations between the two countries, the government had granted the MFN status to India with the consent of all institutions. He claimed that Pakistan would be greater beneficiary of the decision. He also expressed the hope that cheap medicines would soon be available in the country.
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