ISLAMABAD, June 26: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday inaugurated a four-day Pakistani envoys conference convened by the government to review the country’s foreign policy and discuss the challenges it faces today on the diplomatic front and in the international arena.
This is the first such conference under his government. The last conference held in July 2003 was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Zafaruallah Jamali.
In his address at the Foreign Office the prime minister underlined the need for adopting a multi-pronged strategy as international system moves from geo-politics to economics.
Foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri gave an overview of the foreign policy objectives and the challenges ahead as did foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan.
On the first day the conference focused on the country’s internal and external security situation. The director-general of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and director-general Military Intelligence gave separate briefings that also covered war on terrorism. Federal Interior Minister, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, also gave a presentation on the security challenges.
The topic of discussion on Tuesday will be bilateral relations with separate sessions dedicated to ties with Afghanistan, India, and the US, it is learnt.
The Jammu and Kashmir dispute is to figure prominently in the context of Pakistan-India peace process.
On the bilateral front relations with Russia, Japan and Asean countries would also figure in the discussions.
During the closed-door deliberations all aspects of the country’s foreign policy and national security would be reviewed in view of the current and evolving regional situation, sources said. The underlying objective of the exhaustive consultative exercise is to chalk out a roadmap for future diplomatic engagement at multiple levels: bilateral, regional, and multilateral.
