Opposition walks out of Senate session to protest govt's lackadaisical foreign policy

Raza Rabbani asks Sarataj Aziz if he considers parliamentarians school children.

ISLAMABAD: A discussion on Pakistan’s foreign policy towards India and Afghanistan in the Senate turned sour for the government on Tuesday after the adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs and national security Sartaj Aziz came under heavy criticism for three sessions before the opposition walked out in protest over the policy statement.

Aziz, who was briefing the house on the government’s foreign policy, said they were following a policy of non-interference in internal affairs of other countries. He added Pakistan’s role will improve the economic condition of the region.

But the veteran politician came under fire for his own statements describing the current trends in the country's foreign policy and relations with other countries.

A motion by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani had triggered the vociferous debate in the house over foreign policy on Tuesday. But before Aziz could respond, PPP Senator and Leader of the Opposition Aitzaz Ahsan said that it was not only astonishing but rather deplorable that there was not a single person in the entire government who could have been appointed as the Minister for Foreign Affairs since the ministry was linked to important issues related to the parliament.

With the likes of Narenda Modi expected to be elected to office in India and Abdullah Abdullah in Afghanistan, Ahsan said “both of them do not seem to have a very good view of Pakistan.” In this scenario, he called for the “malnourished” Pakistani foreign policy to be strengthened.

Ahsan went on to say that Aziz himself was “stabbed in the back with little knives” with someone else controlling the foreign policy. Ahsan further criticised the policy of loans, saying $52 million provided by China would indebt the future generations.  A healthy foreign policy depends on a strengthened Internal policy, he said, adding that the governments mandate which was doubtlful was supported only for the sake of democracy and they did not want to derail the system like their predecessors.

Aziz, who has spent only 11 months in office , said there was not enough time for a foreign policy to be shaped but when history would be written, some basic changes made to the foreign policy during this time will be remembered. Aziz explained that the incumbent foreign policy hinged upon better relations with other countries and economic improvement through ‘trade not aid.’

He added that a change was the security parameters, which he claimed did not exist previously. “It’s a policy of non-interference into other countries.” He added that Pakistan was trying to convince other countries also not to use Afghanistan as zone for proxy wars but rather compete in trade and development.

Aziz had hardly finished when Rabbani said that it seemed that the goverment lacked comprehension of the prevailing geo-political realties and the dangers that surround the country were visible from the fact that only one other member from the government apart from the leader of the house, Raja Zafarul Haq, was present in the house. The resonance of “do more” and “safe havens” after the recent visit of the United States Under Secretary, continued attacks on security officials, incomplete dialogue with the militants were all related to Foreign policy.

“The spokesperson of the foreign office has more information than what the Advisor to the PM had to tell us today” declared Rabbani, before rhetorically asking if Aziz considered them ‘school children.’

“It was better if you had rejected to make statement, we cannot accept what you said to be a statement from the government of Pakistan” he concluded.

Ahsan said that the remarks of the Advisor were ‘Ignocent’ an amalgam of ‘innocent’ and ‘ignorance.’ He continued that what the advisor had said was tantamount to degrading the sanctity of the house.

The opposition then walked out of the house in protest.