Pakistan-US relations: Parliament to decide terms of engagement

ZAHEER ABBASI

ISLAMABAD: The government has said that new terms of engagement and cooperation with the US would be decided by the Parliament in the light of recommendations by Parliamentary Committee on National Security.

This was stated by Minister of Information Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan at a news conference here on Thursday after a briefing to the Cabinet meeting by the Director General Military Operation (DGMO) about the NATO/ISAF attacks on Silala posts in Mohmand Agency on November 26.

She said that the recommendations of Parliamentary Committee on National Security would be presented in the Parliament and a decision on new terms of engagement with the US would be taken at the forum of Parliament after taking the entire political leadership of the country on board.

She said that the DGMO briefed the Cabinet in detail about the aggression by the NATO forces in response to questions raised by the Cabinet members. He also apprised them about the future strategy. The Minister said the Cabinet noted that Pakistan's strong protest had been conveyed to all concerned and all necessary steps had been taken to upgrade the defences of the country.

In reply to a question about President Asif Ali Zardari's health and conflicting statements in government circles, the minister said that all "speculations" and "engineered stories" in this regard had nothing to do with the reality and were unfounded and baseless.

According to a statement, the Cabinet considered and confirmed the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in its meeting held on November, 11 2011 and accorded its approval to ratification of Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) among the D-8 countries. The D-8 is an arrangement for development and cooperation among eight most populace Muslim countries and the offered list of the D-8 PTA of Pakistan contains a total of 254 items. The list has been finalized by the Ministry of Commerce in consultation with all the relevant stakeholders of Pakistan including the Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Textile industry, the Federal Board of Revenue and the then Ministry of Food & Agriculture. Pakistan will not be offering major tariff concessions under the Agreement as the D-8 end rate will be above the tariff rates offered by Pakistan to other FTA partners for these tariff lines.

The Cabinet considered and accorded its approval for initiating negotiations on Mutual Recognition Agreement, Agreement on Redressal of grievances with India and Preferential Trading Agreements under SAFTA. In the Sixth Round of Commerce Secretary-level talks held on Nov 14-15, 2011 where both sides discussed the process of trade normalization further.

The Federal Cabinet considered and gave its approval to Framework Agreement signed by 37 countries and ratified by 25 countries; protocol on the preferential tariff Scheme for TPS- OIC signed by 23 countries and ratified by 13 countries and rules of origin signed by 20 countries and ratified by 10 countries. The basic idea behind it is the preferential trade system of the OlC countries. This will stipulate for member countries to reduce customs or other restriction for bilateral trade between Muslim countries.

The Cabinet considered and accorded its approval to the signing of Agreement between Pakistan and Kingdom of Swaziland on military cooperation. On its signing, it will pave the way for a broad-based military cooperation between the two countries.

The Cabinet ratified and gave its approval to ratification of the Agreement on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation signed between the Pakistan and Romania. The Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the receipt of last notification by which the Parties shall communicate each other that their internal legal procedures concerning its entering into force have been completed.

The Cabinet considered and accorded its approval to sign framework Agreement for Grant Aid between South Korea and Pakistan. Seoul intends to sign a Framework Agreement with Islamabad for grant aid assistance. The Agreement aims at institutionalizing the development cooperation relating to grant assistance between the two countries. It includes, inter-alia (i) providing Pakistani Government with equipment, machinery and material; (ii) implementing aid projects for economic and social development of Pakistan; (iii) inviting nationals of Pakistan to training programmes in the Republic of Korea; (iv) dispatching experts to Pakistan for consulting and on-the-spot training programmes and (v) holding consultation with the Pakistani government in a spirit of partnership. The Framework Agreement is expected to be signed during the forthcoming visit of the President of Pakistan to South Korea this month.

The Cabinet considered and gave its approval to the signing of an MoU on cooperation between the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, Government of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Railways of Pakistan to expand Pakistan-Korea cooperation in the field of Railway development and to establish a long-term cooperative relationship based on equality and mutual benefits, an MoU is proposed to be signed between the respective parties during the upcoming visit of the President of Pakistan to South Korea this month.

The Cabinet considered and gave its approval to the signing of an MoU between Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water) and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).

The Cabinet considered and gave its approval to the signing of an MoU between Ministry of Water and Power Pakistan and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). The MoU is aimed at promotion of bilateral cooperation in the field of hydropower business, through exchange of data, experience, visits and joint work between both the nations so that they may benefit from each other by sharing invaluable experiences and knowledge to be gained from such cooperation. The Cabinet considered and accorded its approval to an MoU on disaster management between NDMA and Korean National Emergency Management Agency.