ISLAMABAD: Parliamentarians on Monday expressed satisfaction over the briefing given by the country’s military leadership on important issues including Afghanistan.
The closed-door briefing by senior military officials to the parliamentary and political leadership, members of the National Assembly and Senate, provincial leadership and the Azad Kashmir prime minister was given during a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) at Parliament House in Islamabad.
The meeting chaired by National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and held in the assembly’s main hall started at 11:30am and lasted around five hours. It was also attended by Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, ISPR chief Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar and other senior military officers.
“The participants were comprehensively briefed about matters pertaining to national security, foreign affairs, and internal and external challenges faced by the country. They were also briefed about regional and political challenges especially the situation in [Indian-occupied Kashmir] and Afghanistan,” a statement issued by the National Assembly Secretariat said after the meeting.
It was outlined during the briefing that Pakistan had played a “responsible and positive role” for peace in Afghanistan, and would continue its complete support for stability in the neighbouring country.
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“Pakistan believes that peace in Afghanistan would pave [the way] for regional peace and development,” the NA press release said.
The participants were further informed that Pakistan was “making every effort to ensure that the current situation does not give rise to another humanitarian and economic crisis which would add to the plight of the people” and was in constant touch with the international community in this regard, it added.
“It was also hoped that the territory of Afghanistan would not be used against Pakistan.”
The meeting was also apprised about the border-control system installed on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
According to the statement, the parliamentary and political leadership expressed satisfaction over Pakistan’s strategy to tackle internal and external challenges and expressed good wishes for the prosperity, development and progress of Afghanistan. “They also said that such meetings paved the way for harmony and unanimity of views on national issues,” it said.
