Gilani chairs meeting to evolve consensus over US policy
Says the world is patiently, respectfully following the Parliament's deliberations.
ISLAMABAD:
Fresh from his meeting with US President Barack Obama at the nuclear security summit in Korea, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday chaired a high level meeting which included coalition partners, opposition leaders and the military chiefs to evolve a consensus regarding the resolution of parliaments policy over future terms of engagement with the US, NATO and ISAF.
Upper echelon has been abuzz over the past few days with the Parliament resuming debates over the engagement policy towards US. Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani meeting senior US and ISAF commanders on Wednesday, and Gilani meeting with the US commander in chief earlier on Tuesday.
Though before deliberations started at the Prime Minister House on Thursday, Gilani set the tone of the meeting saying, “before we debate or take any decision, the entire world is waiting patiently and respectfully following the recommendations of parliamentary parties, and they are giving it a lot of importance to them.” He continued, instilling a sense of urgency for the debates “its not only the matter of the US, it is a matter of 48 countries.”
Setting out his agenda, Gilani said “what I wanted was that before we take any decision, your responsibility as national leaders, you have your due importance, the deliberations and line of thinking that you will adopt will determine our future line of action.”
The meeting is being attended by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Interior minister Rehman Malik, Federal Minsiter Khursheed Shah, Senator Raza Rabbani, Pakistan Ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman, Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza, COAS, Chief of Air Staff Tahir Rafique Butt, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Zahirul Islam.
Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, along with opposition members Ishaq Dar.
The government’s coalition members too participated in the meeting including PML-Q’s Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, and Mushahid Hussain Syed. JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and the MQM’s Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi. Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Kalsoom Parveen, Haji Munir Khan Orakzai, and Muzaffar Shah were also attending the meeting.
Fresh from his meeting with US President Barack Obama at the nuclear security summit in Korea, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday chaired a high level meeting which included coalition partners, opposition leaders and the military chiefs to evolve a consensus regarding the resolution of parliaments policy over future terms of engagement with the US, NATO and ISAF.
Upper echelon has been abuzz over the past few days with the Parliament resuming debates over the engagement policy towards US. Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani meeting senior US and ISAF commanders on Wednesday, and Gilani meeting with the US commander in chief earlier on Tuesday.
Though before deliberations started at the Prime Minister House on Thursday, Gilani set the tone of the meeting saying, “before we debate or take any decision, the entire world is waiting patiently and respectfully following the recommendations of parliamentary parties, and they are giving it a lot of importance to them.” He continued, instilling a sense of urgency for the debates “its not only the matter of the US, it is a matter of 48 countries.”
Setting out his agenda, Gilani said “what I wanted was that before we take any decision, your responsibility as national leaders, you have your due importance, the deliberations and line of thinking that you will adopt will determine our future line of action.”
The meeting is being attended by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Interior minister Rehman Malik, Federal Minsiter Khursheed Shah, Senator Raza Rabbani, Pakistan Ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman, Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza, COAS, Chief of Air Staff Tahir Rafique Butt, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Zahirul Islam.
Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, along with opposition members Ishaq Dar.
The government’s coalition members too participated in the meeting including PML-Q’s Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, and Mushahid Hussain Syed. JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and the MQM’s Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi. Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Kalsoom Parveen, Haji Munir Khan Orakzai, and Muzaffar Shah were also attending the meeting.