ISLAMABAD: As the Parliamentary Committee on National Security resumed its deliberations for reviewing the country’s relations with the United States, the Foreign Office made it clear on Thursday that the level of relationship was not being reduced.

“We are streamlining the cooperation,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said in reply to a question.

He also sought to dispel a perception that the relationship had come to a standstill after last month’s Nato attacks on Pakistani border posts.

“Not at all,” Mr Basit retorted when asked by a correspondent if the bilateral relationship was over.

The government had reacted sharply to the Nov 26 border incident, in which 24 soldiers lost their lives, by ordering review of the ties with the United States, closing down the crucial Nato supply route and ordering vacation of the Shamsi airbase.

Following a meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC), which asked for a complete review of arrangements with US and Nato, the government assigned the task of formulating recommendations for future direction of the testy relationship to the parliamentary committee.

The recommendations will be presented before a joint sitting of both houses of parliament, which stands indefinitely postponed because of President Asif Zardari’s illness.

The committee began its proceedings on Dec 2 with a note of advice from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani that ties with the US were important for a peaceful settlement of the Afghan imbroglio, but needed recalibration in accordance with strategic interests.

“Obviously, we have our bilateral ties with the US and following the Nov 26 strikes, we are in the process of reviewing contours of our relations. That process is under way,” Mr Basit said about the review being undertaken by the parliamentary body.

Members of the PCNS asked the government to submit the record of all cooperation agreements with the US, whether written or otherwise.

The committee will reconvene on Dec 13 when officials of the foreign and defence ministries will brief legislators about the pacts, but it’s unclear if they would also venture into the world of ‘secret agreements’, a large number of which were made during Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s rule and something the present government continued to make.

The PCNS members, according to a source, believe that without laying hands on the agreements with the US, the entire exercise will be futile.

Raza Rabbani, the committee’s chairman, met Prime Minister Gilani and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to brief them about the decisions taken by the committee.

The ambassador-designate to the US, Sherry Rehman, was also present.

Senator Rabbani is believed to have informed Mr Gilani about the committee’s decision to seek information regarding arrangements with the US.

“The chairman briefed the prime minister about the cooperation required from various ministries of the federal government,” a statement by the prime minister’s office said.

AMBASSADORS CONFERENCE: The government has also called a conference of ambassadors from selected capitals on Dec 12-13.

Although spokesman Basit said “the purpose of the conference will be to deliberate on different aspects of Pakistan’s foreign policy”, it was evident that much of the thrust of the discussions would be on relations with Washington.

The conference could reveal as to where the bilateral ties that have gone from one low to another are actually headed in the midst of rhetoric coming from both the civilian and military leaders.

“As far as Pakistan’s foreign policy is concerned, we have always tried to gear it towards protecting our sovereignty and territorial integrity and aligned it strictly with Pakistan’s requirements for peace and development. There are times when you review certain aspects of your foreign policy and that we are presently doing. The envoys’ conference will also deliberate on these issues,” Mr Basit explained.

The PCNS briefly touched upon the US memo scandal. It is reportedly confronted with a dilemma about proceeding with the matter as the matter has also been taken up by the Supreme Court.