Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar emphasised on Tuesday that parliament was the only forum in which Pakistan’s foreign policy was defined.
The comments followed a foreign policy conference in which the country’s diplomats were assertive and critical of the government’s approach to US relations.
Addressing the media outside the Parliament House, Khar said the recommendations from Pakistan’s envoys in key world capitals would be presented before the parliamentary committee on national security for further deliberation. The minister, however, made it clear that Pakistan still maintained diplomatic relations with the US, despite suspending Nato supplies.
Earlier, while addressing the Senate during the question hour, Khar said that “Pakistan is not responsible for every ill in Afghanistan but becomes an easy scapegoat.” She added that Pakistan had been unfairly blamed for the murder of Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former president of Afghanistan who had been a central figure in peace talks.
Khar explained that baseless allegations are hurled at Pakistan due to its porous border with Afghanistan. She conceded that the problem of levelling accusation lies on both sides, though she was quick to support Afghanistan’s sovereignty and recognise the country as a vital partner of Pakistan.
Senator Abbas Khan Afridi raised the issue that Afghan nationals are often given multiple-entry visas to Pakistan without strict requirements, while Pakistanis receive single-entry visas from Kabul. The foreign minister said that there should be reciprocity in visa policy.
Meanwhile, senators from Balochistan protested when Minister for Industries Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi told the house that only 48 out of 1,325 new Utility Stores had been set up in Balochistan. “This is injustice with the people of Balochistan,” said Dr Ismail Bluedi.
Utility Stores were not the only grievance. Regarding the lack of banks in the province, Hasil Bizenjo said that it is responsibility of the government to open branches of the National Bank of Pakistan in every tehsil.
Zahid Khan of the Awami National Party pointed out that there was not a single store in the eight agencies of Fata. Hafiz Rasheed from Fata made the same point in another way, staging a walkout from the proceedings over the issue.
Acting Chairman Jan Muhammad Jamali intervened and asked the parliamentary secretary to hold a meeting with the senators, in order to devise a strategy to address their grievances and report back to the house.
Additionally, the Senate passed the Women in Distress and Detention Fund (amendment) Bill, 2010, aimed at providing financial and legal assistance to women in jails. The bill, moved by Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar says that the human rights wing of the ministry of law, justice and human rights will oversee the fund.
(WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SUMERA KHAN IN ISLAMABAD)
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2011.
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