ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: A two-day Pakistan-Afghanistan parliamentary security dialogue is beginning in Islamabad on Tuesday to discuss ways to enhance bilateral parliamentary contacts.
The event is co-hosted by the Senate’s standing committee on defence and the parliamentary friendship group on Afghanistan.
The dialogue has been organized by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) as part of its Pakistan-Afghanistan parliamentarians’ exchange.
On Monday, a welcoming luncheon was held at the parliament house in Islamabad in honor of 16-member Afghan parliamentary delegation, who is currently visiting Pakistan to participate in the Pak-Afghan parliamentary security dialogue.
In his address at the luncheon, the chairman of Senate standing committee on defence Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed urged to increase bilateral cooperation among Pakistan and Afghanistan to combat the ‘Terrorism, which he termed as common enemy of both countries.
The Senator said that there is a paradigm shift in Pakistan’s approach, bidding goodbye to notions of ‘strategic depth’ as well as drawing distinctions of ‘good/bad terrorists’.
“Pak-Afghan Relations are of paramount importance in the Pakistan Foreign Policy and there is a complete consciousness among all Pakistani political parties for a peaceful Afghanistan.” Senator Mushahid said, adding that in the coming new year more bilateral cooperation regarding security issues and military-to-military relations is expected.
The leader of Afghan parliamentary delegation Senator Baz Muhammad Zurmati on the occasion assured full support of Afghan government to root out terrorism. He, on behalf of Afghanistan, also condemned the tragic incident in Peshawar, saying that the Afghan people were shocked on this brutal act of terrorism.
