ISLAMABAD: Three parliamentary committees will visit the General Headquarters (GHQ) on Monday (today) where they will be briefed on several internal and external security issues.
The committees include the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, Senate Standing Committee on Defence, and National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence.
This is the first security briefing being given by the military to parliamentarians since the Taliban took over Afghanistan and the deadly terror attacks carried out by the Islamic State in Khorasan (ISIS-K) at the Kabul airport. The parliamentarians will also be briefed on the situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The briefing will be given by the director-general military operations (DGMO). The parliamentarians are also expected to have also an interactive session with Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
It may be mentioned here that a similar briefing was given to parliamentary leaders of political parties at the Parliament House on July 1. The previous briefing was reportedly given by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to parliamentary leaders on possible security threats and regional environment,
They were also briefed on the situation that was emerging in Afghanistan at that time in the wake of withdrawal of foreign troops, stalemate in peace talks, developments in occupied Kashmir, and US-China relations.
The military and intelligence leaders called for avoiding politics on issues of national interest and cautioned that strategic challenges and a policy shift in external relations could have repercussions for the country.
The army chief had also answered to questions of parliamentarians after the briefing. The political leadership had been informed that in view of the situation it was critical to develop a consensus on issues of national interest.
Since the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban, the opposition parties have been demanding of the government to convene a joint sitting of the parliament and brief it on the situation.
