Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has continued its tradition of taking initiatives in establishing a number of Firsts. For example:

The 12^th Report of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is being released. This is on “The Lebanon Conflict”.

In 2006 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee maintained its tempo of activity holding 27 meetings and events. These include:

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee wishes to extend a special thanks to its Secretary Mr. Iftikharullah Babar without whose efficiency, hard work and commitment the work of the Committee would not have been possible. Additionally, both the staff members of the Committee, Mr. Riaz Khan and Muhammad Imtiaz particularly contributed to the work of the Committee with the latter working on preparation of the Reports. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee wishes to thank the Chairman Senate, Mr. Muhammedmian Soomro and the Secretary Senate, Raja Muhammad Amin for their help and cooperation in the work and functioning of the Committee. Finally, a word of thanks to all the esteemed members of the Committee, both from the Government and the Opposition who worked together as a team to promote, project and protect the national interest of Pakistan. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee also wishes to thank the members of the media, both print and electronic, for their wholehearted cooperation during 2006 and the Committee looks forward to their continued cooperation in 2007. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee also wishes to thank the Foreign Minister, Mian Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri and his Ministry for their cooperation and for giving candid briefings on foreign policy issues.

The Committee on Foreign Relations wishes to make it clear that its Reports are published in cooperation with the Hanns Seidel Foundation,

Germany

for which the Committee wishes to thank them for their cooperation as well as to USAID for providing an intern to the Committee.

FACT SHEET
March 2, 2006

Ever since its election in April 2004, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has functioned as a cohesive team with a national, bi-partisan approach on Foreign Policy issues. During this period, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has established some new precedents in the functioning of the committee system in Pakistan’s parliamentary history. An effective and active committee system is vital for the accountability of the government and for promoting and strengthening of institutionalization of the democratic process.

The Foreign Relations Committee, in the last 22 months, organized 30 events, including 20 meetings, published 10 reports and arranged 2 overseas visits of the Committee.

Among the new precedents, which are the “first” in Pakistan’s parliamentary history, the Foreign Relations Committee:

For the first time, arranged public hearings open to the media on issues of Foreign Policy;

For the first time, the Committee invited non-governmental independent experts to give their inputs at hearings of the Committee;
This is for the first time in Pakistan’s parliamentary history that a parliamentary committee has been issuing regular reports;

This is the first and only parliamentary committee which has established a ‘web site’ of its own;
It has also had an internship programme and established its own library in its office;

On all issues, its approach has been above party politics, and this has helped to inject an institutional character to the Committee.

During the forthcoming period, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will continue to be active in promoting an informed debate on issues pertaining to foreign affairs. Among the steps taken by the Committee, these have helpful in educating parliamentarians, public opinion and the press. For instance, after their visit to Indian occupied Kashmir, the Committee was the first to invite Pakistani journalists for a hearing and it took the unprecedented initiative of inviting Ambassadors of African countries for a meeting and this has resulted in publication of first report on Pakistan-Africa relations with specific policy recommendations. The Committee’s work has also helped the humanitarian cause of releasing prisoners jailed in India which took place after the Foreign Relations Committee raised this issue in open public hearing in August 2005.

The Committee held meetings on various issues including war on terror, general elections in India, situation in Occupied Kashmir, Pakistan – Africa Relations and Pakistan – UK Relations and the following reports were issued:-

Report No. 1(July 2004)
The Global & Regional Scenario in the aftermath of 9/11: deals with the visit of the members of British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, to Islamabad in May 2004. The major issue was “to discuss maters of mutual interest, particularly the global and regional scenario in the aftermath of 9/11 incident”.

The Report covers the proceedings of the meeting and explains the viewpoint of the two countries.

Report No. 2 (August, 2004)
General Elections in India,
its impact and the regional implications relates to the meeting held on May 28, 2004 on the subject of General Elections in India, its impact on Pakistan and their regional implications. Recognized experts on South Asia were invited to present their assessment and perspective; including former Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar and Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar.

Report No. 3 (October, 2004)
Special Report on
Enlightened Moderation – The Post 9/11 Scenario is a well-documented treatise on post 9/11 issue of terrorism and the counter strategy – “Enlightened Moderation” advocated by President Musharraf.

The US point of view, both official and nonofficial, is also reflected in the articles and statements by renowned US experts to provide a broader view of the problem, as also perspectives from Pakistan.

Report No. 4 (March, 2005)
Occupied Kashmir and Relations with India the report is a unique document as it contains the eye-witness account of the visit of Pakistani journalists to Occupied Indian Kashmir – the first ever by any Pakistani in last 57 years.

Report No. 5 (April – May, 2005)
Visit to Germany, Belgium and the UK it is an account of the visit of Foreign Relations Committee to Europe, in particular, Belgium, Germany and the UK. The Report covers meetings with the counterparts in these countries and interaction with the resident Pakistan community in the containment.

Report No. 6 (September, 2005)
Pakistan and the OIC: The Report titled “Pakistan and the OIC” records the developments of Organization of Islamic Conference since its birth in 1969 and is a record of last 35 years of OIC.

Report No. 7 (November, 2005)
Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan “Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan” is the first informative and detailed account of problems facing Balochistan and the proposals to overcome them, as reflected in the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan established by Chaudhry Shujat Hussain, then Prime Minister of Pakistan and its Sub-Committee on Current Issues headed by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed.

Report No. 8 (December, 2005)
Pak – Africa Relations “Report on the state of relations between Pakistan and African countries based on informal dialogue of the Committee members with African envoys based in Islamabad.

Report No. 9 (December, 2005)
Pakistan – UK Relations is an account of the interaction with Sir Michael Jay, Permanent Under Secretary, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office which covers viewpoints of both countries on issues of terrorism, Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, Iran’s nuclear issue, and the difference between struggle for the legitimate right of self-determination and terrorist activities.