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Govt Decides to Take Opposition Into Confidence Over National Security

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided that it will get opposition together on its larger strategy on how to act against banned outfits.

PM Imran has taken the Cabinet members into confidence over the aftermath of Indian aggression and also apprised them the role of friend countries during the escalation and their efforts to defuse it.

Addressing meeting, PM said that the future of the region depends upon the peace as the escalation was not in any one’s interest.

Cabinet hailed PM Imran rile in Pak-India escalation while it also approved most of the agenda.

Later, addressing a press conference, following the federal cabinet meeting presided over by the Prime Minister Imran Khan, the information minister said that the leaders of major parties will be taken into confidence with regards to major decisions on banned organisations.

Chaudhry said that a consensus had been built in the country in recent days in response to Indian aggression and the government wanted this consensus to be sustained rather than see it break “over small things”.

He said that these were matters of national interest and the government wanted to move forward with the opposition the way it had with various other institutions.

Chaudhry clarified that the militant organisations being cracked down on were already banned, but some additional steps had to be taken, such as those needed to comply with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) demands, or else the country would face international sanctions.

He worried that as a result of being blacklisted by the FATF, the country may face “rising gas and electricity bills”.

“Keeping that in mind, the government has to keep the economy as well as the country’s well-being as supreme,” he said.

Chaudhry noted that it was “perhaps for the first time in 40 years” that the international media “is welcoming Pakistan’s stance”, including those newspapers which Pakistan had always had a complaint with.

He said, “Today, they [international media] were saying that Pakistan’s stance is right, while India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have made a mockery of themselves with the way they are risking the lives of millions for the sake of their elections.”

The information minister said this was a good opportunity for the country to capitalise on internal unity and move forward with the narrative that has resonated with international observers.

In response to a question, Chaudhry said that Pakistan’s ulema (religious scholars) and people should realise that Pakistan is not internationally in a position to take “any sort of burden” and noted that the internal situation “demanded the strengthening of the economy”.

He added that there was a consensus on this position among all political parties as well as religious parties, who he thanked for their cooperation.

The minister was also asked if action against proscribed organisations was being taken in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack and the dossier that India had sent; he, however, responded simply by saying Pakistan “had been taking action since 2014”.

According to Chaudhry, it was not that steps were not being taken, but may that the media’s focus shifted away.

Concluding his briefing, the information minister added that India’s narrative was being proven wrong at every step; whether it was about attacks or about some seminary being targetted. He noted that the world was saying that what India was saying was wrong.