ISLAMABAD – Foreign minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has briefed the NationalSecurity committee on his recent successful visit to Russia
He briefed the committee the desire of the Russian Federation to furtherstrengthen bilateral relations with Pakistan in all areas.
The National Security Committee (NSC) agreed on the importance ofrecalibrating the foreign policy framework to bring more focus on countriesof the region.
The NSC met here under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shahid KhaqanAbbasi to review the current international and regional situation.
It was agreed in the meeting to launch new initiatives to enhance economicpartnerships with friendly countries in the region and beyond for a win-wincooperation.
“The committee agreed that Pakistan will continue its fight againstterrorism and extremism in the interest of its people. Our policies willcontinue to be formulated and implemented in light of our nationalinterests,” PM Office Media Wing said in a press statement.
The meeting was attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs KhawajaMuhammad Asif, Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir, Interior Minister AhsanIqbal, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, Chairman Joint Chiefs ofStaff Committee and the three services chiefs.
The committee was briefed on the current international and regionalsituation particularly on relations with the regional countries.
The committee also reiterated the significance of China Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC) and the benefits it brought to the development of Pakistan,the region and beyond.
The participants agreed on further strengthening the CPEC cooperation asthe flagship programme of One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative.
It reaffirmed Pakistan’s abiding interest in lasting peace in Afghanistan.It stressed the importance of peace among the Afghan people through anAfghan-led and Afghan-owned national peace and reconciliation process.
The committee underscored the need for consistent and continued engagementwith Afghanistan. The importance of effective border management as well astime bound repatriation of Afghan refugees to Afghanistan in a dignifiedmanner was also emphasized.
It condemned the unprovoked Indian ceasefire violations along the Line ofControl and Working Boundary. More than 400 ceasefire violations in 2018alone had resulted in the Shahadat of and injuries to scores of innocentcivilians.
The committee observed that through consistent ceasefire violations, theIndian government was trying to divert the international attention fromblatant human rights violations in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Indiamust give priority to peace.