ISLAMABAD: The leaders of parliamentary parties, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, were on Wednesday given an in-camera briefing on the regional situation.
PM Shehbaz had invited parliamentary leaders and party heads to “sit down and develop a course of action so we can move forward”, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said on Tuesday while addressing the National Assembly.
The briefing began shortly after 11:30am at the Prime Minister House and concluded after more than two hours. It mainly discussed the ongoing ‘Operation Ghazab lil-Haq’ against terrorist hideouts and the Middle East conflict.
“The meeting was given an in-camera briefing regarding the Pakistan-Afghanistan situation, the hostilities in Iran, Middle East and the Gulf, and Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts,” read a statement from the PM Office (PMO).
It added that the parliamentary leaders of the participating political parties “freely expressed their views”.
“The participants underscored the need for national unity, consensus and unanimity in the current circumstances,” the PMO statement said.
It noted that the attendees hailed Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts for peace, stressed the need to intensify them and made recommendations for the future plan of action.
“All participants reiterated their firm commitment for the eradication of terrorism from the country,” PMO stated, adding that the leaders also hailed PM Shehbaz’s “move to take the entire political leadership into confidence”.
While the ruling PML-N had extended the olive branch to the PTI and invited it to sit together for the sake of external and internal security threats to Pakistan, the PTI decided not to attend any meeting unless a meeting with its founder, Imran Khan, was arranged.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam–Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman were among prominent politicians who attended the briefing.
Other party leaders included Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Abdul Aleem Khan from Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP), Khalid Hussain Magsi from Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and PML-Q’s Chaudhry Salik Hussain.
Senators part of the briefing included PPP’s Sherry Rehman, BAP’s Manzoor Ahmed Kakar, PML-N’s Pervaiz Rasheed, MQM-P’s Faisal Subzwari, National Party’s (NP) Jan Muhammad, Anwarul Haq Kakar and Hafiz Abdul Kareem.
MNAs participating in the meeting included PPP’s Naveed Qamar, MQM-P’s Farooq Sattar and Aminul Haque, as well as NP’s Pullain Baloch.
Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani, NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Senate Deputy Chairman Syedal Khan Nasar and NA Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah were also present in the meeting.
Cabinet members who attended it included Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, and Public Affairs Minister Rana Mubashir Iqbal.
PM’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah and Special Assistant to PM on Political Affairs Talha Burki attended as well.
‘Pakistan pushing for agreement to end Iran war’
Speaking on Geo News’ programme ‘Geo Pakistan’ after the meeting, Sanaullah provided some insight into the briefing’s discussions.
He highlighted that Pakistan’s efforts on the diplomatic front were that “this war imposed on Iran ends in some kind of agreement or understanding”.
Asked whether Saudi Arabia and Iran were in direct contact with each other or Islamabad was acting as a mediator, Sanaullah stated, “Pakistan is doing this work of communication.”
He pointed out that the political and military leadership have made contacts regarding the ongoing hostilities, and it was also stated in the briefing that they were trying to convince Iran not to attack Gulf countries.
Sanaullah noted that if the attacks on Gulf countries stop and “those countries also add their weight that this war should end”, then there would be greater chances of an agreement to end the hostilities.
About whether the Middle Eastern countries could push US to halt its attacks, the senator said a “strategy” was being carved out, with various leaders, including former foreign minister Bilawal, giving their recommendations.
The minister further said that “engagement was underway to seek clarity” on Iran’s concerns of Gulf countries’ territory being possibly used for strikes against it.
Responding to a question, Sanaullah said the political and military leadership were engaged in communication to “resolve misunderstandings” and halt retaliatory attacks from Iran directed towards Gulf countries.
About arch-enemies Iran and Israel, the senator affirmed that Iran “definitely has the right to respond to aggression done against it”, adding that leaders voiced the same opinion in today’s meeting.
He said PM Shehbaz and Dar were making efforts so that “Iran’s response to other Muslim and Gulf countries […] this matter does not happen, else it would further weaken Muslim countries’ alliance”.
Asked whether he thought the Iran war could continue indefinitely, Sanaullah said, “Maybe the US also had this assessment; they must have planned this beforehand, in which Iran has suffered a lot of damage.”
Recalling the loss of Iran’s supreme leader, he said, “They (US) thought that Iran would back off or in other words, unilaterally accept all their demands, but that did not happen.
“Iran has shown great resistance, which makes it seem that this war will be a bit long. This is everyone’s assessment that if this war intensifies, then America will face difficulties.”
‘Pakistan’s goals in Operation Ghazab lil-Haq almost achieved’
Asked whether Operation Ghazab lil-Haq came under discussion in today’s in-camera briefing, Sanaullah said, “Pakistan’s goals, strategic planning and the achievements Pakistan seeks have almost been achieved. Now, they are being fortified.”
The PM’s adviser, also the inter-provincial coordination minister, stressed that Pakistan’s only demand was that Afghan Taliban “do not allow their soil to be used for terrorism against us”.
“We want a bufferzone in between, which could even be jointly monitored by both countries or our friendly nations could be bothered for it,” he said.
Sanaullah recalled that Kabul was not agreeing to that either and terrorism activities were consistently continuing, which “necessitated that such training centres and checkposts right on the border — whose only job is to open fire to engage [forces] and enable the terrorists to sneak through — […] be eliminated”.
Questioned to what extent the Afghan Taliban were willing to reach an agreement, Sanaullah quipped that what was the point of them agreeing when such training centres and hideouts would have been destroyed.
“If they back off from it, we have no fight with them,” the minister said, reiterating Pakistan’s demand.
He recalled that Pakistan had been “providing all sorts of facilities” to Afghan refugees for the past 40 years, adding, “We are ready to continue that service.”
Rana Sanaullah hints PTI missed chance to break the ice
Speaking about the opposition’s decision to skip the important briefing, Sanaullah expressed disappointment at the opposition’s “attitude of isolation”, adding that the PTI did not believe in dialogue.
Sanaullah recalled that he and the parliamentary affairs minister met NA Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai and PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan in the opposition’s chamber yesterday to invite them.
“I requested them that this is a national issue. Our party politics is at its place but we should sit together on this and you should give your opinion on this and contribute,” he quoted himself as telling Achakzai and Gohar.
The PM’s adviser said the PTI’s meeting with Imran was “not possible today, but in the future, in fact we also told them that if you would contribute sincerely towards a national issue, then there could also be ease in rest of the things”.
“If they would have come and played their national role … they could have also touched upon that topic,” he added.
Sanaullah noted that Senate Opposition Leader Raja Nasir Abbas was “very positive” about it, but said the political committee would have they final say, which then decided to boycott the briefing.
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