Pak-Afghan border: Parliamentary panel proposes ‘military-free region’

Drone attacks termed a threat to stability, challenge to country’s sovereignty.

ISLAMABAD:

The Parliamentary Committee on National Security deliberated on the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan’s borders with Pakistan for enduring peace in the two countries.

The US and its allies should extend their support to Pakistan for a ‘military-free region’ along the Afghan border and pave the way for a political resolution of the ongoing war against terrorism. The parliamentary body endorsed Islamabad’s initiative for constituting the Pak-Afghan peace commission on the prime minister’s recent visit to Kabul and suggested that neighbouring countries, especially Iran, should be taken on board to launch a more inclusive peace process, resulting in the eventual withdrawal of international troops.

“The only hope for durable peace in war-torn Afghanistan rests on a sustainable process of political dialogue,” said Committee Chairman, Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination Senator Raza Rabbani. Pak-Afghan security issues remained at the centre of the discussion during the in-camera meeting. The committee condemned drone attacks and asked the  US to share the latest technology for eliminating terrorists from the region.

Drone attacks challenge Pakistan’s sovereignty and are extremely destablising for the country, reiterated Senator Rabbani during a brief interaction with media persons after the three-hour meeting. ‘’The government and the military leadership are on the same page on this issue,’’ he said. “We attach immense importance to promoting relations with the US and would like to resolve this issue through diplomatic channels.” Pakistan bowed out of a tri-lateral meeting with Afghanistan and the United States scheduled last month in Brussels to record her protest against drone attacks, he said. The message to Washington is clear: Islamabad does not accept American interference in tribal areas, said Rabbani. “It is imperative to take steps to improve relations between the two key allies in the international alliance against terror in the current scenario.” Pakistan has lost more soldiers in the conflict than any other country in the region.

“We asked the government to implement the recommendations forwarded by this committee which were approved in the joint session of Parliament last year,” he said. The committee also rejected reports carried by the US media regarding Pakistan’s stance on drone attacks.

Senators Ishaq Dar, Wasim Sajjad, Abdur Rahim Khan, Haji Adil Khan and Professor Khurshid and MNAs Sherry Rehman, Mehtab Khan, Munir Khan Orakzai and Aftab Sherpao attended the meeting. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and Secretary Foreign Affairs Salman Bashir are out of the country.







Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2011.