The people of Pakistan are already paying a heavy cost of the violation of territorial limits of Pakistan.
LAHORE: The government had held an All Parties Conference (APC) on peace negotiations with the TTP on September 9. Interestingly, Clause three of the resolution covered all previous recommendations relating to national security contained in: 1) the declaration of an APC organised by the JUI-F on February 28; 2) the joint declaration of an APC convened by the ANP on February 14; 3) the resolution of an APC convened by then prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on September 29, 2011; 4) the resolution adopted by the joint sitting of parliament on May 14, 2011; 5) the consensus resolution passed by the in-camera joint sitting of parliament on October 22, 2008 and recommendations thereon of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security in April 2009.
Clause four of the September 9, 2013 resolution had further exhibited the resolve of the APC participants regarding their awareness of the aspirations of the people of Pakistan for the fulfillment of the promises made by the nation’s founding fathers for establishment of a sovereign state, secure in its boundaries and determined to promote “friendship with all and enmity towards none”.
We are unanimous that the use of drones is not only a continued violation of our territorial integrity but also detrimental to our resolve and efforts aimed at eliminating extremism and terrorism from our country. Subclause (c) of Clause five stipulated, in particular, that the federal government should consider the possibility of taking the drone issue to the UN. Subclause (h) of Clause five, ibid, resolved that recent developments have fully borne out the validity and necessity of these recommendations and, therefore, the APC’s participants called upon the federal government to initiate the dialogue with all the stakeholders and authorised it to take all necessary steps as it may deem fit, including development of an appropriate mechanism and identification of interlocutors.
On November 1, a US drone strike targeted and killed Hakimullah Mehsud, the TTP chief. This was followed by the interior minister saying that drone strikes were aimed at sabotaging efforts to establish peace in Pakistan. On November 21, the adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs told the Senate’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that the US has assured of no drone strike during peace negotiations with the TTP. The APC also decided that Pakistan shall itself determine the means and mode of fighting this war in its national interest and shall not be guided by the US or any other country.
The people of Pakistan are already paying a heavy cost of the violation of territorial limits of Pakistan. Pakistani society has been divided into anti-Taliban and pro-Taliban segments and this has further aggravated the situation. The adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs should put on record the agreement made by the previous government on Nato supplies. He should also submit a written reply whether the present government has ratified that agreement. Furthermore, what is stopping the government from carrying out a constitutional referendum on the matter?
Hamid Waleed
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2013.
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