ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: In an effort to counter the opposition’s campaign to internationalize the LFO issue, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League on Thursday arranged a briefing for the Islamabad-based diplomats on the state of democracy and current political situation in the country.

The briefing, held at the central secretariat of the party, was mainly conducted by senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and PML-Q secretary information senator Tariq Azeem. Some other members of the party also took part in the briefing.

Senator Mushahid Hussain, who is also chairman of the party’s foreign affairs committee, focused on some of the challenges being faced by the party during the present transition to democratic governance.

He said it was necessary to frame ‘rules of the game’, based on tolerance and respect for dissent and difference of opinion, before building democratic political culture. He also underlined the need for respect for provincial autonomy and said in the present setup it was evident from the successful political co-existence of an opposition provincial government and the coalition federal government.

The senator said the PML-Q was seeking a national consensus among the political forces of the country on important issues relating to foreign policy. In this regard, he mentioned holding of a six-day debate in Senate on Iraq, followed by a unanimous resolution on the issue.

On Pakistan-India relations, he said there was no political constituency in the country that wanted confrontation with India and the focus was on dialogue on all contentions issues.

Senator Tariq Azeem briefed the diplomats on the dangerous situation arising out of India’s aggressive arms policy and accumulation of latest weapons’ arsenals. “On the one hand India proposes to normalize relations with Pakistan and on the other, it has accelerated the arms race creating a severe imbalance in the region while threatening the world peace,” he added.

The PML secretary information added that India would never be able to force Pakistan to abandon its support to the Kashmir freedom struggle and a permanent peace in the region was possible only by resolving the Kashmir issue through dialogue.

PML-Q vice-president Yaqut Jamilur Rehman highlighted the ongoing debate on the Hudood Ordinance and work being done by the party for women’s rights in the country.

PML-Q secretary-general Salim Saifullah Khan said party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had initiated a process of direct contacts with the heads of political parties in other countries, including India. He said the PML-Q president had already visited Malaysia and Sudan and expected to visit China, Bangladesh and Romania in the near future.

A question-answer session followed the briefing.

Replying to a question, senator Shahzad Wasim said despite opposition’s lack of cooperation and negative attitude, the treasury benches set a new parliamentary tradition by taking on the role of the opposition through filing of motions in parliament and regularly using the question hour to maintain a check on the powers of the executive.

The diplomats who attended the briefing included Dr Emil Ghitulescu (Romania), Matthew Gerber (Australia), Mr Ganich and Mr Kozlov (Russia), Masamichi Abe (Japan), Diosdado Ramos (Philippines), Chingiz Mammadalizade and Elshed Majidor (Azerbaijan), Tahir Alimov (Tajikistan), Li Yuanling and Cai Hongyu (China), Sardar Nazaro (Turkmenistan), Mykola Skliazenko (Ukraine), Ali Ocheni (Nigeria), Magan Gorender (South Africa) and J.K. Soi (Kenya).