ISLAMABAD: Opposition has strongly opposed Rs 12 billion worth of
grants for foreign office, over its redundant foreign policy On Monday,
N.A approved four demands of grant, for foreign office amounting to
more than Rs 12 billion with majority, while rejecting 33 cut motions
of opposition.
Opposition, while reacting strongly to foreign
policy, has demanded restructuring (reviewing) of relations with USA,
maintaining that American conspiracies had deliberately thrust an
unwitting war against terrorism on Pakistan.
Debating the
issue, PML’s Birjees Tahir said that Pakistan had badly failed in
forming a conducive foreign policy of its own, weakening its core,
lifeline issue of Kashmir; hence foreign office, staffed with political
favorites did not deserve a single penny worth of grant.
He was
deeply concerned at the Indian success in foreign policy, as world was
willing to take India as a global power, and wanted a comprehensive
accountability of all ambassadors, as to why did they play an equal
part in encouraging this redundancy of foreign policy.
PML-N’s
Zahid Hamid deemed a comprehensive debate on foreign policy as
imminent, since only that would justify any debate on foreign office
budget; besides stressing a stock review of Pakistan-USA relations,
while Anousha Rehman recounted deep apprehensions and strong criticism
of Pakistani expatriates/ manpower abroad, about ambassadors’ failure
to redress their problems.
PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal was critical of
the fact that past dictators had rather given undue benefit to USA, and
foreign policy fell prey to machinations of Army.
Declaring
Rs12 billion grant as an unwarranted amount he stressed on economic
diplomacy, which was more effective than foreign policy, presently. He
cited the economic cooperation between archenemies China and India as
an example. Meanwhile State minister for foreign policy dismissed the
misguided notion of Pakistan’s failure in foreign policy, just because
India was economically robust and industrially sound, while she also
informed that Pakistan had managed to garner the support of 34
countries to stem the extension of Security Council, which would have
otherwise enabled India to become a permanent member state. “ This
supports the notion of a successful robust foreign policy”, she
maintained.
Concluding the debate, she expressed her
incomprehension of criticism leveled against foreign policy ‘ since it
was in able hands of PM himself’, and lauded present government’s
successful endeavors to ensure a conducive foreign policy. Online
