Fresh assessment: NA body to be updated on Pak-Afghan ties
Committee on foreign affairs to also take up issue of rising number of Pakistanis being convicted abroad
Ghani urged Islamabad to place Taliban leaders in Quetta and Peshawar under house arrest. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz will brief a parliamentary panel on an updated assessment of the Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, including peace and reconciliation prospects, in the backdrop of the latest offensive of the Taliban in the war-ravaged country.
The issue will come under discussion during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs to be headed by Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Monday (today).
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have shown improvement since the unity government was formed in Kabul. But recently the Afghan administration has expressed concerns over the lack of progress in the reconciliation process.
In a non-paper leaked to the media, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani sought “tough action” by Pakistan against the Afghan Taliban, which in recent weeks intensified its spring offensive in the country.
Ghani urged Islamabad to place Taliban leaders in Quetta and Peshawar under house arrest and detain members of the Taliban-allied Haqqani network.
Pakistan officially denies that it is sheltering any Taliban commanders. In an apparent shift in policy, Islamabad in recent weeks publicly condemned the Afghan Taliban for their spring offensive.
Earlier, Awais Leghari had said that a lot still needs to be done to remove the trust deficit between the two neighbours.
Pakistan should hand over members of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network, if any of them are in its custody, to Kabul in an effort to help expedite the peace process in the strife-torn country, he had also noted.
In addition, the committee on foreign affairs will also take up the matter of an increasing number of Pakistanis being convicted abroad. The details of Pakistanis in prisons abroad and the role of the Foreign Office, Pakistani embassies, consulates in assisting Pakistanis detained, under trial and convicted in overseas prisons.
The committee will also discuss the service delivery mechanism of the Foreign Office to Pakistani citizens and foreigners.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2015.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz will brief a parliamentary panel on an updated assessment of the Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, including peace and reconciliation prospects, in the backdrop of the latest offensive of the Taliban in the war-ravaged country.
The issue will come under discussion during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs to be headed by Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Monday (today).
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have shown improvement since the unity government was formed in Kabul. But recently the Afghan administration has expressed concerns over the lack of progress in the reconciliation process.
In a non-paper leaked to the media, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani sought “tough action” by Pakistan against the Afghan Taliban, which in recent weeks intensified its spring offensive in the country.
Ghani urged Islamabad to place Taliban leaders in Quetta and Peshawar under house arrest and detain members of the Taliban-allied Haqqani network.
Pakistan officially denies that it is sheltering any Taliban commanders. In an apparent shift in policy, Islamabad in recent weeks publicly condemned the Afghan Taliban for their spring offensive.
Earlier, Awais Leghari had said that a lot still needs to be done to remove the trust deficit between the two neighbours.
Pakistan should hand over members of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network, if any of them are in its custody, to Kabul in an effort to help expedite the peace process in the strife-torn country, he had also noted.
In addition, the committee on foreign affairs will also take up the matter of an increasing number of Pakistanis being convicted abroad. The details of Pakistanis in prisons abroad and the role of the Foreign Office, Pakistani embassies, consulates in assisting Pakistanis detained, under trial and convicted in overseas prisons.
The committee will also discuss the service delivery mechanism of the Foreign Office to Pakistani citizens and foreigners.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2015.