ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday demanded that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) provide details of the measures taken to counter the “propaganda” against Pakistan and its institutions by American and British parliamentarians.

“We may be a poor country, but that does not give any right to US congressmen and parliamentarians in the UK to interfere in internal matters of Pakistan,” said MNA Noor Alam Khan, chairman of the PAC.

The chairman of the PAC made these observations in response to news of congressmen in the United States and parliamentarians in the United Kingdom discussing internal matters of Pakistan.

“As members of the National Assembly, Pakistani politicians do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries,” said Noor Alam Khan.

Directs AGP office to conduct audits of all govt departments

The committee has given the MoFA until next week to share copies of letters written by Pakistani missions abroad to the respective governments regarding this matter.

The PAC meeting was held to discuss audit objections in the accounts of the MoFA for the year 2021-22.

During the meeting, the PAC directed the MoFA to provide details of all properties rented by Pakistani embassies abroad, especially in the UK and the US.

“It would have been better if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had purchased properties instead of paying hefty amounts in rent. This way, the government could have owned assets abroad,” suggested Noor Alam Khan.

Among other queries, MNA Wajiha Qamar insisted on the reasons for the delayed response by the government of Pakistan to India’s demand for the revision of the Indus Water Treaty.

The committee expects to receive a reply when it meets next week.

Some of the glaring objections raised include the loss of government funds due to mishandling of the Hyderabad Fund Case, am­­o­u­n­­­ting to Rs2.7bn. Additionally, there is the non-recovery/refund of amounts forfeited by court orders in the Broad Sheet case from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of Rs821.64m. Furthermore, there are huge pending liabilities/payments of PIA worth Rs349.38m, and a loss to the government of Rs113.670m due to the non-utilisation of government property. Irregular payments of Rs95.949m in cash ins­tead of crossed cheques are also highlighted, to mention just a few.

Meanwhile, the PAC directed the Office of the Auditor General of Pakistan to conduct comprehensive audits of all government departments to enhance transparency in the country’s financial system.

Chairman Noor Alam Khan, presiding over the PAC meeting, urged the AGP to take action against organisations that did not cooperate in providing access to their accounts.

He specifically mentioned that the AGP should conduct an audit of Nadra Technologies Limited (NTL), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Interior, in collaboration with the Federal Investiga­tion Agency to streamline the system.

AGP officials informed the committee that they had not yet received any records from the NTL authorities.

The PAC asked for a detailed report on the expenses incurred by NTL, including the amount spent on officials’ travel, to be presented in the next sitting.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2023