ISLAMABAD: Dec 19 (TNS): Senator Mushahid Hussain on Tuesday hailed Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s visit and subsequent in-camera briefing to the Senate as a historic day.
General Bajwa briefed the Senate Committee of the Whole on national security matters.
Hussain said the briefing was a “historic day for democracy and civil-military relations in Pakistan”.
He added that it was the first time that such an open and detailed briefing was given to the upper house of parliament.
“Everyone is very satisfied with the COAS briefing. This is a very good thing for civil-military relations. The confusion created by the current situation has been cleared,” said the Senator.
PPP leader and Senator Farooq Naik also praised the briefing giving by the army chief.
“This is the first time that such a detailed briefing was given and it lasted for five hours.”
He added that all Senators presented questions which were answered by the army chief in detail,” said Naik.
The lawmaker further said that the DG ISI had accompanied the General Bajwa and he “intelligently interjected wherever there was a need”.
Naik said he felt the discussion was held in a pleasant atmosphere and a lot of things were cleared.
The committee session, which lasted over four hours, was also attended by DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor, DG ISI Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar and DG Military Operations Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza.
Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani chaired the committee session.
A question and answer session was also held at the conclusion of the session.
The Army Chief also briefed the members regarding the Islamic Military Alliance.
The Committee of the Whole was constituted ‘to prepare policy guidelines in light of the emerging regional realities and the role of the United States.’
