Kulbhushan to get no concession, says Khawaja Asif

Rejects Indian accusation of ‘premeditated murder’; says it was premeditated murder in Gujarat and IHK; Pakistan not part of any sect-based alliance; concerns of Iran being allayed

ISLAMABAD: Speaking in the Senate, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday said Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav would get no concession, as due process of law was followed while sentencing him to death.

He said Pakistan would not make any concessions to elements working against its security and stability whether they're operating inside Pakistan or from outside. The minister made it abundantly clear that the government was in a position to deal with such elements "with an iron fist". 

He dismissed the Indian accusation that the sentence was a premeditated murder. Hitting out at New Delhi, the minister: “They used the term 'premeditated murder'. As a reply, all I want to say is that we have followed all the rules and regulations, and the laws of the land.

"We have done absolutely nothing that is against the rules and regulations. The trial continued for three and a half months, but there is premeditated murder going on even today in Kashmir," the minister said.

"It was premeditated murder in Gujarat. It was premeditated murder [when the] Samjhota Express [was attacked]," he said, adding that Pakistan had tried time and again to reconcile differences with India but it failed to cooperate. 

“It is premeditated killings of Kashmiri youths in the Indian Held Kashmir, which continues unabated. "No other country has been a target of terrorism the way Pakistan has been," Asif said, adding that there were no parallels to the successes Pakistan had made against terrorism.

"We will defend our homeland at all costs and the masses and the armed forces aregeared up with the largest deployment of 0.2 million troops on the eastern border and 80,000 on the western border," he emphasised.

India, he noted, was even today engaged in conspiracies against Pakistan on the eastern side and on the western border through a proxy. Despite all this, he said, Pakistan had control over every inch of its land while despite the presence of 16 nations’ forces in Afghanistan for 16 years, the state control was hardly beyond Kabul. 

The minister said Pakistan would never become part of any alliance against any Muslim country and there was no question of becoming a part of a sect-based alliance. Giving the policy statement on Pakistan’s decision to become a component of the 30-country alliance, led by Saudi Arabia, the minister said Pakistan would never become part of any alliance formed to mount aggression on any other Muslim nation. 

"Pakistan does not belong to any sect, school of thought or religion; it is a country of Pakistanis. We shall not become part of any alliance of a particular sect or school of thought," he said.

He said Pakistan would leave the alliance if it realised that this would be used against any Muslim country, as the sole purpose to join the platform was to rid the Muslim Ummah of terrorism.

The minister said the government stood by the resolution adopted by parliament’s joint sitting on the Yemen conflict.  However, he said like in the past Pakistan would like to play the role of a mediator to resolve issues between the Muslim countries.  

The terms of reference and terms of engagement, he pointed out, are yet to be finalised and expected to be given the final shape in May during a conference, being hosted by Riyadh, to be participated by all the 39 nations.

He held out an assurance that the ToRs would be placed before parliament, as Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani insisted that before the cabinet accorded approval, these should be presented in parliament for discussion.

“The Pakistan Army personnel are deployed in Saudi Arabia while the air force and navy personnel have also been there under an agreement signed in 1980s. "It was Pakistan’s commitment to ensure internal security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, let me make it clear that the Pakistani forces were never used against any other country,” said the defence minister.

He emphasised that while the security and integrity of Saudi Arabia and Harmain Sharifain were close to Pakistan’s heart, it enjoyed brotherly relations with Iran, which were centuries-old that had never witnessed a hurdle in mutual relationship.

He said it was Pakistan’s duty to allay concerns of Iran and these were being allayed. He said Iran had played a great role in the recently held ECO conference in Islamabad, which was attended by Iranian president, who led a high-level delegation. 

“We have warm regards and love for Iran”.

Speaking on an adjournment motion and a calling attention notice by Senator Farhatullah Babar of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Mohsin Aziz of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which were clubbed together, both the senators warned that it would have serious repercussions for Pakistan if it joined the Saudi-led multi-nation Islamic Military Alliance. 

Senator Babar said the alliance was speculated to be the Sunni alliance, as it did not include any Shia country.   

“The government should tell parliament about its terms of engagement. We also want to know what will happen to the joint resolution passed by parliament that Pakistan will not join any such alliance and the foreign policy which is supposed to be framed by parliament,” he added.

The defence minister said the TORs for joining and allowing Gen Raheel Sharif to lead the alliance would be finalized in a meeting scheduled to be held in May. 

The alliance, the minister noted, was purely against terrorism, which had been haunting the Muslim world -- through the backing of US and other Western countries -- to destabilize the Muslim world, for which Pakistan should play its due role.       

“We will play the role of a mediator as Pakistan is the only nuclear power, and it is incumbent upon us to maintain brotherly relations with all Muslim countries. We are in touch with Iran as Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs, along with secretary defence had recently visited Iran for talks,” he added.

 “I would like to make it clear that Pakistan will always be there to protect the holy land but it will not become part of any conflict against a Muslim country, which we have made clear to Saudi Arabia, as Pakistan does not belong to any sect,” he maintained.

About issuing a no objection certificate (NOC) to Gen Raheel, who will be heading the Saudi-led alliance, Asif said he was yet to apply for the NOC, and after following the due process, the defence ministry would issue the notification and parliament would also be informed about that.  

 “The defence ministry issues the NOC to those officers who seek jobs abroad like Gen Pasha, former head of ISI, who was issued one, as he was working as an adviser to the UAE forces,” he added.

The defence minister said the government would not violate the joint resolution passed by parliament. Later, the House witnessed heated arguments between Minister for Housing and Works Akram Khan Durrani of JUI-Fazl and PTI Senator Azam Khan Swati about the recent housing schemes launched by the ministry for government employees.

The PTI senator, along with two other senators, alleged that instead of facilitating low grade government employees, the ministry was fleecing them by selling out 5 marla plots at exorbitant rates. 

The remarks by the senators came as a shock to the minister, who straightaway said Azam Swati was the man who defended his policies when he was the chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during his two stints as a senator and a one-time minister, but it was strange to see him accusing him of corruption.

This prompted Senator Swati to stand up and clarify that he neither ever defended Akram Durrani, nor sought any advice from him. But timely intervention by the chairman Senate helped in controlling the situation, who stopped both of them from engaging further in verbal bout.

The chairman Senate also directed to include a letter written to him by KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak who had requested the Senate to debate the Fata reforms recently passed by the federal cabinet, in the agenda of the Senate's committee of the whole that is taking care of the matter    

The second quarterly report of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for 2016-17, was presented in the House.    Meanwhile, the chairman Senate pointed out a constitutional violation in appointment of the acting Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP).

Rabbani observed that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly had come to a halt due to absence of AGP as Asad Amin had retired last week after reaching the age of superannuation.

Referring to Clause 6 of Article 168 of the Constitution, which clearly states that if the AGP is retired, or could not perform his duty due to any reason, the President of Pakistan can appoint a senior officer of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP), which is a constitutional requirement.

He recalled that it was Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who inserted the clause in 18th Amendment, but this is beyond comprehension why the AGP office was functioning without any auditor general.

With these remarks, he directed the law and justice minister to speak to Dar, saying the constitutional slot of the AGP could not be left vacant which has already stopped the functioning of the top parliamentary watchdog – the PAC.

After about an hour when the session was about to be adjourned, the finance minister turned up in the Senate, accusing the media of misreporting on the issue.  He said the first thing which he did Monday morning was sending a summary to the prime minister for appointing the senior-most officer of AGP as auditor general.

He said the prime minister had signed the summary the same day and it will be signed by the president latest by this evening and one Haq Nawaz, the senior most officer of the AGP, will be appointed as AGP till the government finds a suitable person for the lucrative job.