The government has invited parliamentarians to an in-camera briefing on the regional situation scheduled for Wednesday, according to Law Minister Azan Nazeer Tarar.
Speaking in the National Assembly on Tuesday, the minister said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had invited parliamentary leaders and party heads to “sit down and develop a course of action so we can move forward”.
“There are sensitivities we have to take into account and things that you cannot discuss openly, considering the tension in the region and our relations with brotherly Muslim countries,” the minister said.
He said that while Pakistan shared friendly relations with Iran, “we also have long-standing relations with other countries”.
“In particular, Saudi Arabia, with whom we are in a defence agreement,” the minister said.
“I am requesting both sides of the aisle that this is a sensitive situation and we must sit together for Pakistan and for the security of the wider region,” he said.
He further said that Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah was giving “person-to-person invitations”. He further said that the briefing would be in-camera and would be scheduled for 11:30am.
“The future strategy; what you suggest and what you decide, will be taken into account,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had also spoken about the in-camera briefing while addressing the Senate.
“We have planned that the parliamentary leaders of both houses, including the honourable leaders of the opposition in the Senate and in the National Assembly, will meet at 11:30am tomorrow for a detailed briefing,” he said.
He said the briefing was expected to “touch upon” the situation in Afghanistan as well.
The development comes after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, plunging the region into a renewed military confrontation. Subsequently, Tehran targeted US bases in several Gulf Arab states.
It also comes amid tensions with neighbouring Afghanistan. Last week, the Afghan Taliban targeted Pakistani positions along the border in response to earlier air strikes by Pakistan in multiple Afghan provinces to target the militants involved in cross-border attacks. In response, Pakistan launched the operation ‘Ghazb lil-Haq’ and took out military targets across Afghanistan.
A PPP delegation also met with PM Shehbaz in Islamabad on Tuesday to discuss the political situation in the country as well as the regional situation.
PTI says will not attend until provided access to Imran
However, the PTI said that it would not attend any government session until a meeting was arranged with PTI founder Imran Khan. The decision was made during the meeting of the political committee of the PTI.
In a statement, the party said that a meeting of its political committee was convened to recent domestic and international situation. The statement said that the political committee condemned the “cowardly aggression and massacre” carried out by Israel and the US against Iran in the “strongest” terms.
“This action is a blatant violation of international law, a cause of instability in the region, and an act that is pushing the world further towards chaos and conflict,” it said.
It urged Iran and Gulf states to demonstrate responsibility and restraint to prevent further escalation in the region. At the same time, it called on the US and Israel to immediately cease their illegal aggression and provocative actions.
The statement said that the political committee reviewed the meeting convened by the government regarding the national security situation and expressed deep concern over the current tense situation with Afghanistan.
However, it also expressed concern that Imran’s personal physicians were not being granted access to him, which was his constitutional right and mandated by court orders.
“Until court orders are upheld and arrangements are made for a meeting with the founding chairman Imran Khan, we will not participate in any meeting convened by the government,” it said.
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