ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: The issue of Pakistan’s democratic progression and the arrest of ARD President and PML-N MNA Javed Hashmi topped the agenda in recent discussions between Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and the key European Union and Commonwealth leaders in Brussels and London, Dawn has learnt through informed diplomatic sources.

The foreign minister at a news conference here on Tuesday downplayed the strong stance that the top European leaders had taken on the arrest of the ARD leader.

Knowledgeable sources told Dawn that the highest-ranking operational officials of the EU and Commonwealth took up the matter with Mr Kasuri “prominently and firmly”.

“Pakistan got a lot of flak on this issue from Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, European commissioner for foreign relations Chris Patten and European parliament member John Cushnahan,” well-placed diplomatic sources disclosed.

But Mr Kasuri had stated at the Tuesday news conference that the issue did not figure in any of his bilateral meetings. “The EU did not raise the issue, but some members of parliament did,” he maintained. Later, conceding that Chris Patten had mentioned it to him, the foreign minister declared the matter did not consume more than “two per cent of the time”.

However, sources told Dawn that the “internal feedback” clearly established that it was a big issue with the EU and Commonwealth representatives and they took a tough line on it.

Raising the issue of Mr Javed Hashmi’s arrest with Mr Kasuri, the EU officials queried whether this was the “genuine democracy” that Pakistan claimed it had embarked on, sources said. In this context Mr Patten and Mr Cushnahan specifically asked Mr Kasuri if “genuine democracy” meant that a sitting parliamentarian could not be allowed to criticize or question the functioning of a government or state, the sources added.

Mr Kasuri’s claim that Pakistan had excellent relations with the Commonwealth and it still enjoyed all the facilities could also be open to question. Diplomatic sources say the fact of the matter is Pakistan’s suspension from the Commonwealth has resulted in denial of a number of facilities available to member countries. Pakistan no longer has access to the Commonwealth technical assistance. All assistance except for the Election Commission of Pakistan has been cancelled. This assistance is provided under the multilateral Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) established by the Commonwealth heads of government.

Recruitment of Pakistani experts and consultants for the CFTC assignments has been frozen. Fresh appointments of Pakistanis in the Commonwealth Secretariat have stopped. Also, Pakistani students are deprived of scholarships offered annually by Britain, Australia and Canada.

Pakistan was suspended from decision-making councils of the 54-nation Commonwealth following the October 1999 military coup. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action group at its 22nd meeting in New York in September upheld the suspension of Pakistan’s membership, noting that: “Parliament had remained deadlocked over the Legal Framework Order which was an obstacle to Pakistan’s full return to democracy.”