Opposition seeks full disclosure by premier

SUKKUR:

Opposition leader in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah has said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should share the details of the meeting with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, with parliament. “I don’t see this as a surprise visit,” he said while talking to journalists at his residence in Sukkur on Saturday.

Modi made a surprise stopover in Lahore on his way back to India from Afghanistan to meet Premier Nawaz and wish him on his birthday. The Indian premier was taken to Jati Umra in Raiwind where both the leaders held a 90-minute meeting.



Referring to the wars of 1965 and 1971 with India, Shah said India and Pakistan had never enjoyed cordial relations. “But it is our desire to have good and peaceful relations with India.”

About the extension of Rangers special powers by the interior ministry, the opposition leader said the federal government had ‘invaded’ Sindh by overruling its notification on the same issue. “The 18th constitutional amendment empowers the provinces to take such decisions,” he said. “While all four provinces are the pillars of federation, the Centre’s treatment towards the Sindh government is not good.”

Shah said the interior ministry apparently had the consent of PM Nawaz because he was tight-lipped on the issue. “The interior ministry is empowering the Rangers on one hand and depriving Sindh of its constitutional rights on the other,” he said. “Such actions will have far-reaching consequences.”

‘Conflict of interest’

Besides the opposition leader, Imran Khan was also sceptical of Modi’s surprise visit to Pakistan.



“We welcome the thaw in Pak-India relations but to have a business associate arrange the two prime ministers’ meeting has an underlying conflict of interest,” he wrote on the microblogging website Twitter, apparently referring to the presence of Indian steel tycoon Sajjan Jindal in Lahore on the same day.

Referring to an earlier secret meeting between the two leaders, the PTI chairman stated meetings like those in Kathmandu and Lahore should be staged through institutional framework under the foreign ministry. He added that such meetings undermined the process whereby tensions could be eased and instead raise more questions.

Imran, however, welcomed the revival of friendly relations between the archrivals.

More reservations

The Jamaat-e-Islami chief also criticised the idea of shaking hands with an ‘enemy’ especially on the birth anniversary of the Founder of the Nation.

Sirajul Haq denounced Premier Nawaz’s efforts to boost diplomatic ties with India, terming his reception of his Indian counterpart with refuting deaths in Kashmir and those along the Indian border.

The Awami National Party, meanwhile, questioned both Imran and Sirajul Haq’s opposing statements.

ANP Senator Zahid Khan said while the PTI chief was in favour of ties with India, his coalition partner in provincial government was against it. If Imran does not agree with the policies of the JI, he should expel the party from the government, he added.


Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2015.