Top security officials to brief key parliamentarians today

Matters related to the current situation in Afghanistan and its likely implications on Pakistan will be discussed

ISLAMABAD:

The country's top security officials will brief the Parliamentary Committee on National Security today on matters related to the current situation in Afghanistan and its likely implications on Pakistan.

The meeting would be convened by National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser, with key members of parliament receiving a detailed briefing. 

The forum would also be attended by the Leader of the Opposition in NA, Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Co-Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and other parliamentary leaders.

Earlier, it was reported that other than the regular members of the committee, special invitations have also been sent to key ministers and several opposition members. 

The opposition members have been complaining that the elected representatives have been kept in the dark about Pakistan’s policy with regard to Afghanistan which faces an uncertain future and is potentially heading towards another civil war. PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto during his budget speech raised the issue and demanded a briefing from the relevant authorities on Afghan situation.

Bilawal, on June 28, took credit for the meeting of the National Security Committee saying he was the one who was seeking this all-important meeting. It is expected that military and intelligence authorities would apprise the committee about the policy being pursued by Pakistan on Afghanistan and the country’s strategy to deal with the negative fallout of unrest in the neighbouring country.

Since the US and Nato forces began their withdrawal on May 1, the Afghan Taliban have made rapid inroads, capturing over 70 districts in 6 months and even stretching their influence to the north which had never been their stronghold in the past.

Read more: Taliban's rapid success surprises Pakistan

The Taliban’s advancement is so rapid that it even caught Pakistan by surprise. Officials told The Express Tribune that Pakistan was not expecting the Taliban to make quick gains after the US and Nato began pulling their troops out of the war-torn country.

The biggest worry in Pakistan is that in the absence of a political settlement, Afghanistan may be heading towards another cycle of civil war. American officials have acknowledged that the country that is going to be affected the most because of the Afghan civil war is Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan also expressed similar fears in a recent interview to the New York Times.

He warned that in case of a civil war, Pakistan would be compelled to seal off its border with Afghanistan.Any unrest in Afghanistan will trigger a fresh influx of refugees while groups such as banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) may be further emboldened by the volatile situation.

Against his backdrop, there is a fear that Pakistan may face multiple challenges that will have serious security, political and economic implications for the country.

The civil and military authorities will likely explain Pakistan’s position on Afghanistan, the US demand for bases in the country and other dimensions. It is expected that other than Afghanistan, the Indo-Pakistan ties in the context of the situation in the Occupied Jammu and Kashmir would also be discussed during the closed-door meeting on Thursday.