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In-camera session: Gen Bajwa briefs Senate on national security

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Posted on December 19, 2017
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ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday arrived at the Parliament House to brief the senators on the national security in an in-camera session of the Committee of the Whole House.

Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Naveed Mukhtar, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj General Asif Ghafoor are accompanying the army chief.

Gen Bajwa is briefing the house on his recent visits to Afghanistan, Iran and other security issues confronting the country.

The in-camera session of the Senate committee is underway with Chairman of the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani in the chair.

DG ISI Naveed Mukhtar will brief the media on the in-camera session after it concludes.

A day earlier, Rabbani informed the house about Gen Bajwa’s scheduled briefing to the senators on internal and external security situation.

He said he was informed by the GHQ that Director General Military Operations Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza will accompany the army chief in the Senate briefing.

The Committee of the Whole House was constituted to ‘prepare policy guidelines in the light of emerging regional realities and the role of the United States’, according to a notification issued earlier in this regard.
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Later in the day, the Senate will also take up the 24th Amendment Bill that will pave the way for fresh delimitation of constituencies on the basis of provisional results of the recently held population census.

On Dec 15, in a significant breakthrough, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi succeeded in convincing the opposition PPP in the Senate to vote for the amendment to avert the threat of delay in the next general elections scheduled in August next year.




https://arynews.tv/en/army-chief-senate-security-situation/
 
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Posted on December 19, 2017
gen.jpg


ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday arrived at the Parliament House to brief the senators on the national security in an in-camera session of the Committee of the Whole House.

Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Naveed Mukhtar, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj General Asif Ghafoor are accompanying the army chief.

Gen Bajwa is briefing the house on his recent visits to Afghanistan, Iran and other security issues confronting the country.

The in-camera session of the Senate committee is underway with Chairman of the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani in the chair.

DG ISI Naveed Mukhtar will brief the media on the in-camera session after it concludes.

A day earlier, Rabbani informed the house about Gen Bajwa’s scheduled briefing to the senators on internal and external security situation.

He said he was informed by the GHQ that Director General Military Operations Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza will accompany the army chief in the Senate briefing.

The Committee of the Whole House was constituted to ‘prepare policy guidelines in the light of emerging regional realities and the role of the United States’, according to a notification issued earlier in this regard.
172655_8762194_updates.jpg


Later in the day, the Senate will also take up the 24th Amendment Bill that will pave the way for fresh delimitation of constituencies on the basis of provisional results of the recently held population census.

On Dec 15, in a significant breakthrough, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi succeeded in convincing the opposition PPP in the Senate to vote for the amendment to avert the threat of delay in the next general elections scheduled in August next year.




https://arynews.tv/en/army-chief-senate-security-situation/

Chairman Senate today lashed out at senators and those who were present in the in-camera briefing. He said that parlimentarians have leaked what was presented and discussed inside.

Does anyone know what has been leaked?
 
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Chairman Senate today lashed out at senators and those who were present in the in-camera briefing. He said that parlimentarians have leaked what was presented and discussed inside.

Does anyone know what has been leaked?
Yes the many things. Purpose of Iran visit. discussion on hafiz saeed and few other things regarding threats from Afghanistan and Pakistan's new USA policy Indian activities. Some parts were suppose to be confidential don't know what was actually leaked but it has to be some thing regarding these issues, even the senate out doors were closed for the briefing.
 
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And that's why these politicians are not worthy of such top level briefing
 
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Chairman Senate today lashed out at senators and those who were present in the in-camera briefing. He said that parlimentarians have leaked what was presented and discussed inside.

Does anyone know what has been leaked?

Leaking of details from army chief's in-camera briefing angers Senate chairman

Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani on Wednesday criticised lawmakers for allegedly leaking details of the in-camera briefing by Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, saying they had violated the sanctity of the upper house by doing so.

Taking notice of the details from the session being made public, Rabbani said Rule 225 prohibits the publicity of an in-camera session.

"If we keep up with the same attitude, no one will be able to take the house into confidence," the chairman said, adding that senators should know that in-camera sessions are not spoken about in the public.

For allegedly breaching the privilege of the Senate, Rabbani forwarded the matter to the House Business Advisory Committee.

Rabbani tasked the committee, which will include leaders of the house and opposition in Senate and parliamentary leaders of all political parties, to investigate the matter and devise a strategy for future in-camera sessions to prevent similar situations.

Objecting to the chairman's remarks, Senator Nauman Wazir of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) said Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor had held a press conference after the session.

Rabbani responded by saying that the ISPR chief had spoken generally, without revealing details of the briefing.

Senator Saud Majeed of the PML-N said media representatives had surrounded committee members from all sides and they later released news regarding the in-camera session.

The Senate chairman hit back, saying it was the journalists' job to provide news to the public.

"The oath to not leak the news was taken by members [of the committee], not the media [representatives]," he said.

Rabbani said he could not even think about controlling the media. He said no sanctions could be imposed on the media, but they could be imposed on senators.

Speaking at the in-camera session of the Senate Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Bajwa had reaffirmed his commitment to democracy and the rule of law and categorically denied the military’s role in destabilising the civilian government, Dawn reported.

The army chief, who originally came to brief the legislators on national security issues, deliberated on a wide range of topics from politics and frayed civil-military ties to counterterrorism operations and foreign policy.

He was accompanied by Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar, Director General of Military Operations Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Military Intelligence Director General Maj Gen Asim Munir. The session continued for nearly four-and-a-half hours.





https://www.dawn.com/news/1377801/publicity-of-army-chiefs-in-camera-briefing-angers-senate-chairman
 
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Bajwa says army not destabilising civilian govt
Baqir Sajjad Syed December 20, 2017
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SENATE Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani receives Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in his chamber at Parliament House on Tuesday.—White Star

• In a first, COAS briefs Senate Committee of the Whole
• Asks parliament to take the lead in framing foreign, security policies
• Says military ready to back political leadership on normalisation of ties with India

ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday reaffirmed his commitment to democracy and the rule of law and categorically denied the military’s role in destabilising the civilian government.

Speaking at an ‘in-camera session’ of the Senate Committee of the Whole, the army chief, who originally came to brief the legislators on national security issues, deliberated on a wide range of topics from politics and frayed civil-military ties to counterterrorism operations and foreign policy.

He was accompanied by Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar, Director General of Military Operations Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Military Intelligence Director General Maj Gen Asim Munir. The session continued for nearly four-and-a-half hours.

Responding to a question by a ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz legislator, the army chief defended the brokering of the deal between the government and the organisers of the 22-day sit-in at Faizabad interchange, the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah.

He said the situation could have aggravated had the military not played its part.

Gen Bajwa, according to the senators who attended the committee’s session, said he firmly believed in democracy and supremacy of the Constitution. However, he did not deny mistakes in the past and, in a reference to generals Zia and Musharraf, reportedly said he could not be held responsible for others. He is reported to have even asked parliament to take the lead in framing foreign and security policies and vowed to implement them.

Gen Bajwa was invited by Senate Chairman Mian Rabbani to share military’s position on certain key foreign policy and security issues. The official agenda of the meeting was to have a “briefing by the Chief of Army Staff and Director General Military Operations on the emerging national security paradigm for Pakistan with respect to recent visits and developments”.

It was the first time that an army chief appeared before a Senate committee. The last time an army chief came to parliament for a briefing was in 2011 after the US raid on Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad when then army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI director general Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha were called to the joint sitting of parliament.

Gen Bajwa’s unprecedented appearance before a Senate committee follows a visit by Senate defence body’s members to the GHQ. The army chief had on that occasion expressed his desire for greater interaction with parliament and told the visiting legislators that he was ready to appear before the Senate Committee of the Whole to answer any question that the parliamentarians might have.

Senators, while speaking to Dawn on background, said the army chief was very forthcoming and candid in responding to the queries, even though some were very “tough and tricky”. The questioning was so wide-ranging and frank that senators did not even shy away from asking questions about Hafiz Saeed, who is on UN sanctions list but has managed to avoid national restrictions.

The lawmakers from both treasury and opposition benches found his responses to be useful. The senators, however, differed over whether or not the army chief’s participation helped narrow the civil-military trust deficit.

“Forget about civilian and military leaders being on one page. Civil-military issues are a reality,” Senator Mushahidullah told reporters after the session.

Senator Sherry Rehman said all parties were on one page as far as national security was concerned.

Minister for Ports and Shipping Senator Hasil Bizenjo said Gen Bajwa had underlined the division of work with governance being civilians’ domain and security being military’s responsibility.

As a note of clarification, a senator said, Gen Bajwa distanced himself and his institution from the views expressed by retired generals in their public appearances. He reportedly said that those were their personal views and had nothing to do with institutional view.

Foreign policy
In a major gesture, the army chief reportedly said that the military was ready to back political leadership’s initiative for normalisation of relations with arch rival India.

Gen Bajwa, according to a couple of senators, said that relations with all neighbours had to be normalised and urged political leaders to try to improve relations with India. He assured that their efforts would be fully supported by the army.

The general’s offer was particularly significant because Indians allege that the army has been blocking peace efforts. Notwithstanding the army chief’s proposal, the prospects of progress towards normalisation remain dim because of Indian intransigence.

At the same time, Gen Bajwa reminded the legislators that a large part of Indian military deployments was mostly against Pakistan, even though it cited other threats. He also recalled that India was fomenting instability and terrorism in Pakistan and had in this regard developed a strong nexus with Afghan intelligence agency NDS.

On Iran, Gen Bajwa said Islamabad and Tehran could not have adversarial relations. He is reported to have also touched on Pakistan’s efforts for a rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh and noted that the initiative received a lukewarm response from Saudi Arabia.

In reply to a question about the Saudi-led military alliance of which Pakistan is also a part, the army chief confirmed that the terms of reference governing the alliance had not been finalised as yet and promised to share them with parliament once they were decided. He, however, assured the lawmakers that the alliance would not be allowed to acquire sectarian colours.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2017
 
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ridiculous!

waderas and jagirdars and industrialists like sharifs will now take briefings from one of the most professional armed forces? naah
 
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You make policy, we follow it, Gen Qamar tells parliament
By Irfan Ghauri
Published: December 19, 2017
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A file photo of army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa. PHOTO: ISPR

ISLAMABAD: In his first appearance before a parliamentary forum, Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday urged parliament to take lead role in policy making and not leave a vacuum.

On invitation of the Senate chairman, Gen Bajwa came to the ‘committee of the whole house’ for an in-camera briefing along with the director general of Military Operations (DGMO), the Inter-Services Intelligence chief, and the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) DG. The briefing was followed by a question-and-answer session.

“You are the policymakers. You should come up with policy guidelines. We will follow you,” Gen Bajwa was quoted as telling the senators.

Sources privy to the marathon huddle told
The Express Tribune that army chief was of the view that the country suffered on the foreign policy front when it did not have a full-time foreign minister for more than four years under the incumbent government.

When he was asked about Pakistan joining a Saudi-led military alliance of Muslim countries and his predecessor’s role in it, he said former army chief Gen (retd) Raheel Sharif was leading the coalition in his personal capacity. “Our policy is what has been delineated in the April 10, 2015 resolution of parliament,” he said. The resolution was passed by joint session of parliament a few months after Saudi Arabia announced the formation of the military coalition.

Through it, parliament had warned the government to act with caution while joining the alliance, taking into consideration delicacies of the relations with Iran.

Army chief lauds training standards at Quetta military school

Gen Bajwa strongly denied any role of the army in recent issues that fomented political turmoil, including the Faizabad sit-in. “We had no role in the sit-in, Panama leaks, or Dawn leaks. We did not cause any of these issues,” a lawmaker quoted him as saying in reply to a question. The blockade of the crucial intersection of the twin cities by a religious group paralysed traffic for three weeks before the government signed a deal with the protesters.

Most senators hailed the army chief’s appearance and said it had cleared many of the understandings and debunked conspiracy theories that were making rounds. They also appreciated his candidness in responding to their critical questions.

The briefing came days after the National Assembly speaker expressed apprehensions that the assemblies might not complete their five-year term.

Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, who heads the Senate defence committee, said he found the army chief “a straightforward person who played with a straight bat”.

When a senator asked the COAS about recent newspaper articles by some retired military officers suggesting a presidential form of government, he clarified that the army was bound to follow the Constitution and there was no room for a presidential system in it. He said it could be the individual point of view of any person, but the military had nothing to do with it.

DG ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor later told a private TV channel that there was no threat to the democratic system from the armed forces. The armed forces, as an institution of the state, would continue to work for the country’s security, he added.


He said former military officers who appeared on TV channels as defence analysts expressed their personal points of view when they commented on any political issues. “They are allowed to express their views two years after retirement. When they speak on political issues, it is their personal point of view. It should never be taken as the armed forces’ opinion. However, when they speak on some defence issue, they speak on the basis of their experience,” he remarked.

The military’s senior-most spokesman also praised the house, saying lawmakers should be well aware of the security challenges faced by the country.

On a recent statement from US President Donald Trump that the US had been giving billions of dollars to Pakistan and it should take decisive action against terrorists, Gen Ghafoor said Pakistan had been doing what was in its best interest. The US has been giving reimbursements for Pakistan’s own spending. “The army chief has told them that we need nothing from the US. We want them to acknowledge our sacrifices.”

Ties with neighbours

“We want good relations with our neighbours. We want them to add to our security, nobody should be using their territory against us,” Gen Bajwa was quoted as telling lawmakers with reference to Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan and Iran. He briefed the senators on his recent visits to Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and different aspects of military diplomacy at a time when the region was going through important geostrategic changes.

According to a lawmaker, when some senators raised the issue of bad foreign policy pursuits from earlier years and the armed forces’ role in them, the army chief said, “We all made mistakes in the past. Let’s move on now.”

The DGMO gave the senators a detailed briefing on the security challenges.
 
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