Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed chaired a meeting of the Senate Committee on Defence and National Security today at the Parliament House for a comprehensive briefing from the Ministry of Defence, which lasted for almost 3 hours.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that the Committee on Defence and National Security would function above party lines with a national perspective that seeks to preserve, protect and promote Pakistan’s defence and national security while also acting as a bridge between khaki and mufti in promoting intra-institutional harmony. He underlined that in these challenging times, issues on defence and national security require a “whole of nation” approach since the role of the armed forces, the government, parliament, people, media and political parties are inextricably intertwined to achieve common national goals on defence and national security.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed also underlined that in Pakistan’s transition from geo-politics to geo-economics, the notion of national security could no longer be confined to military components alone like tanks, planes or military equipment. Still, it has to be based on the notion of Human security that makes people the pivot of defence and national security, incorporating such areas as economy, health, population planning, climate change, food and water scarcity.
The committee also underlined the need for the 2% disability quota to be fully implemented in the Ministry of Defence in letter and spirit, with the Secretary of Defence committing to comply with this direction. Senator Mushahid Hussain conveyed the committee’s sense to the Ministry of Defence that in future, the Minister of Defence should also be present during meetings of the committee.
The meeting received a detailed briefing on the working of the three services and the functions of the Ministry of Defence. In this regard, the members of the committee had proactive participation in the hour-long question & answer session. Unanimously adopting the Work Plan for 2021, the committee underlined that it would work closely with the Ministry of Defence to ensure the implementation of the 14-point work plan, which include detailed briefings on the three services as well as a briefing on intelligence and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, visits to Siachen, Waziristan and the LOC for solidarity with our soldiers, briefing on CPEC security, visits to CMH and other military hospitals to express sympathy with those wounded during counter-terror operations as well as a special visit to the graves of Nishan-e-Haider martyrs on September 6, the Defence of Pakistan day.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed presented a copy of the terms of engagements that the parliament of Pakistan had unanimously approved on April 12, 2012, under the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, which was then headed by Senator Raza Rabbani and of which Senator Mushahid Hussain was also a member. They both helped in drafting those recommendations, which were later unanimously adopted by parliament. After assuming it, the Senate Defence Committee referred it to the Ministry of Defence with the direction that on the issue of bases, foreign ‘boots on the ground’, foreign intelligence operations on Pakistani territory, that all of these are forbidden under the parliament’s directive and this document is to be considered as Pakistan’s state policy guidelines for the future on such issues.
Senators Faisal Javed attended the meeting. Mushtaq Ahmad, Hidayatullah, Walid Iqbal, Engineer Rukhsana Zuberi, Dr. Zarqa Suharwardi Taimur and Palwasha Khan and Secretary of the Committee, Maj. ® Husnain Haider. The Ministry of Defence was represented by Secretary Defence Lt. Gen. ® Mian Hilal Hussain, Additional Secretary Maj. Gen. Khurram Nawaz Khan and Additional Secretary AVM Kazim Hammad.
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