Sartaj Aziz fails to satisfy curious MPs over Modi’s surprise visit

PM’s adviser, defence minister clueless about army chief’s Kabul trip

ISLAMABAD:

The prime minister’s adviser on foreign affairs on Tuesday failed to satisfy opposition lawmakers in the upper house of parliament on recent diplomatic developments, particularly the December 25 surprise visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sartaj Aziz, who was asked to brief the Senate on Modi’s visit, could not come up with any new information that prompted opposition lawmakers to dismiss the government’s response as ‘unsatisfactory’. “The [information] the adviser has placed before the house is half… bereft of details,” said Leader of Opposition Aitzaz Ahsan, who belongs to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).



“This house wants a complete briefing. And let there be an in-camera session [of the house], if necessary,” he added. Ahsan made it clear that the opposition considered Modi’s visit as a positive development and did not want to subvert it.

“I’ve concealed nothing the house wanted to know and expect the house to accept it,” Aziz said. Another PPP senator, Saeed Ghani, said the opposition supported good relations with India but Modi’s visit was not as simple as was narrated by the adviser.

Senator Rehman Malik asked whether the visit took place under the influence of international powers while Senator Hamdullah asked whether Sajjan Jandal, an Indian steel tycoon, brokered the meeting and whether Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim, Mumbai attacks and cricketing ties featured in the discussion.

Though the opposition unleashed a barrage of questions Senator Jahanzaib Jamaldini said one should not find faults and instead welcome the development. Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qayyum said it was success of Pakistan’s foreign policy as Modi was the first Indian prime minister to visit Pakistan in over a decade.



Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani told the senators that in order to have answers to their questions, they could ask through rules of business for a debate over the issue.

Earlier, Sartaj Aziz told the house that during his visit to Afghanistan, the Indian prime minister expressed his wish to visit Pakistan to greet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his birthday. Modi was not aware of the wedding of Nawaz’s granddaughter, he added.

He said the immigration process was followed as only Modi and 11 of his personal staff members were given a 72-hour visa whereas journalists and dignitaries – more than 100 in total – who were part of Modi’s entourage were not allowed outside the Lahore airport.

Aziz said it was decided during the meeting between at Jati Umra that the foreign secretaries would meet in mid-January 2016 to prepare schedule for comprehensive dialogue. “The foreign secretaries will draw up a roadmap for the next six months on 10 identified subjects,” he added.

He said the meeting between the two prime ministers was a ‘great goodwill gesture’ that could pave the way for better relations between the two countries. The two leaders have met five times and the warmth of relations created by the Lahore rendezvous would hopefully have an impact on the formal dialogue.

However, he cautioned against unrealistic expectations saying that during the dialogue there would be progress on some issues soon while some issues would take time to resolve.



Responding to the opposition’s questions, Aziz said there was international as well as domestic pressure on the Modi administration as all international players urged India to re-engage with Pakistan.

Army chief’s Kabul visit

Interestingly, both Aziz and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif were clueless about army chief General Raheel Sharif’s recent visit to Afghanistan. Aziz referred to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and said the defence minister would brief the house.

But Chairman Rabbani referred to a communiqué about initiation of dialogue between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban and said it was within the purview of the Foreign Office. “Can this house presume that you have abdicated [the Foreign Office] to the defence ministry?” he questioned.

Rabbani said the house needed more information than the ISPR press release. Khawaja Asif said he would brief the house on Thursday. However, he was not sure whether it would be an in-camera briefing, when asked by the chairman.


Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2015.