F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor Tuesday said that the in-camera briefing to the Senate Committee of the Whole by the Army was highly appreciated by the Senators.
Talking to media persons outside the Parliament House, he said, the Director General Military Operations’ briefing to the committee la-sted for one hour, following which the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Qa-mar Javed Bajwa answered the various queries of Sena-tors. He said it was very encouraging to see that all the Senators were fully aware about the prevailing security environment in the country.
The Senators put very good questions and the COAS gave them detailed answers, he said, adding that all the Senators appreciated the role of Pakistan Army.
The DG ISPR said that it was agreed upon that everyone had to play role in tackling the menace of terrorism.
He said the COAS attended the meeting on invitations extended by the chairmen of two standing committees as well as that of Chairman Senate, Mian Raza Rabbani.
Later in the evening, a press release issued by the Senate Secretariat said that an in-camera meeting of the Senate Committee of whole was held to prepare policy guidelines in light of the emerging regional realities and deliberate upon the national security paradigm for Pakistan, especially with respect to recent visits of the COAS and other recent developments in this regard.
The meeting was attended by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, along with DG MO, DG MI, DG ISI and DG ISPR,.
Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani, in his opening remarks welcomed the COAS to Senate and gave a brief insight into the role of the committee with regard to issues linked with the foreign policy and national security.
Rabbani stated that the Parliament is mandated to oversee policies of the government and if required, provide guidelines to improvise the same.
“Today’s exercise, first of its kind, is being carried out to ensure that Pakistan’s National Security Policy is in line with the emerging regional realities and the incipient security paradigm for Pakistan,” it said.
COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa gave an overview, which was followed by a detailed presentation by Director General Military Operations Major General Sair Shamshad Mirza.
After the presentation, the COAS personally answered the questions asked by the members which touched upon all areas of national interest and security that lasted for over three hours.
