ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has expressed reservations over Prime Minister Imran Khan’s foreign visits funded by his ‘friend’ and demanded that the issue be debated in the National Security Committee.

In a statement on Monday, PPP secretary general Nayyar Hussain Bukhari said the prime minister had put national security at stake by paying official foreign visits whose expenses were borne by his personal friends.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must present records of the prime minister’s foreign visits to the National Security Committee as the PPP has strong reservations over bearing of expenses of the prime minister’s official visits by one of his friends,” he added.

According to media reports, Prime Minister Khan had said at a function that his trip to Davos, Switzerland, where he recently attended a conference of the World Economic Forum (WEF), was sponsored by two of his friends.

The PPP leader said the nation reserved the right to know what he described as “investment” in the prime minister. “It is a big question mark what are the motives behind ‘friends’ expenditure’ on the prime minister’s official visits,” he added.

Mr Bukhari said that bearing expenses of the foreign tours of the country’s chief executive by an “unknown” person was a serious issue. “The issue has raised doubts as to why a chief executive of the country, who has access to the national secrets, is being funded privately,” he added.

The PPP secretary general said employees of foreign donor agencies were being given lucrative posts, especially in the departments working under the finance ministry, and his party had raised questions a number of times about such appointments.

When contacted, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said a think tank of Pakistanis in Davos sponsored the prime minister’s visit as a tradition, as it had borne expenses of boarding and lodging of all Pakistani leaders who had attended WEF in the past.

“Not only Imran Khan but also our leaders in the past like former president Gen Pervez Musharraf, and former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Yousuf Raza Gilani had also attended WEF’s summits at the expense of the think tank,” she claimed.

Ms Awan said the think tank consisted of some Pakistani families who have been working for the country’s image-building sitting abroad. She said that being a simple and honest person, PM Khan explained publicly that his visit was sponsored by some individuals, while many Pakistani rulers in the past had enjoyed the same facility, but they never disclosed it.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2020