Islamabad, April 01: �Gen. Pervez Musharraf stopped me from briefing Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and he held the Parliament in worst contempt,� said Mr. Riaz Khokhar, Former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, while addressing the concluding session of the PILDAT 3rd Joint Workshop for Pakistan-Afghanistan Parliamentarians on the Role of Parliaments in Formulation and Oversight of Foreign Policy. He was speaking on the topic of How can interaction of Parliament and the Executive be improved for an effective Foreign Policy to a group of Pakistan and Afghanistan Parliamentarians. He urged Parliamentary committees and parliamentarians to play a strong role in demanding details of foreign policy, oversee the implementation and make sure that the shape of foreign policy is influenced and determined through the will of public representatives.

The PILDAT PILDAT 3rd Joint Workshop of Pakistan-Afghanistan Parliamentarians was organised from March 31-April 01, 2009 at Islamabad. A 14-member Afghan Parliamentary delegation arrived in Islamabad upon PILDAT invitation to participate in the workshop. The Afghan delegation has been lead by Honourable Sayed Hamed Gailani, Deputy Speaker of Meshrano Jirga (Afghan Senate).

Spanned over two days, the workshop addressed questions such as the Role and Contribution of Parliamentary Committees in Formulation and Oversight of Foreign Policy Implementation, Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan: the Role of MPs and How can interaction of Parliament and the Executive be improved for an effective Foreign Policy, etc. Notable speakers at the workshop included Honourable Mr. Faisal Karim Kundi, MNA, Deputy Speaker, National Assembly of Pakistan; Honourable Senator Mir Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali, Deputy Chairman, Senate of Pakistan; Honourable Malik Amad Khan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Pakistan; Sardar Asseff Ahmed Ali, MNA, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission and Former Foreign Minister of Pakistan; Honourable Senator S. M. Zafar, Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pakistan; Honourable Ms. Sherry Rehman, MNA, Former Federal Minister; Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, MNA, Chairperson National Assembly Standing Committee on Commerce; Mr. Rustam Shah Mohmand, Former Federal Secretary Interior; Government of Pakistan and Mr. Riaz Khokhar, Former Foreign Secretary, Government of Pakistan in addition to members of the Afghan Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The delegation called on the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Acting President Senator Farook Naik on April 01, 2009 and was hosted by Honourable Mr. Faisal Karim Kundi, MNA, Deputy Speaker, National Assembly of Pakistan; Honourable Senator Mir Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali, Deputy Chairman, Senate of Pakistan.

Earlier, an 11-member Parliamentary delegation from Pakistan, under the leadership of Honourable Deputy Chairman Senate Mr. Jan Jamali, had visited Kabul, facilitated by PILDAT, and had participated in PILDAT Joint Workshop on Budget Process at Kabul in October 2008. Honourable Mr. Mohammad Younus Qanooni President, Wolesi Jirga (National Assembly of Afghanistan) had inaugurated the PILDAT Joint Parliamentary Workshop on Parliamentary Budget Process held on October 28-29, 2008 at Kabul. Pakistani Parliamentary delegation, facilitated by PILDAT, received a state protocol full of warmth and hospitality and also interacted with the President of Afghanistan Mr. Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan Senate Mr. Sibghatullah Majuddadi and Speaker Afghan National Assembly, Mr. Mohammad Younus Qanooni among a host of Afghan MPs.

PILDAT had organised and hosted the first-ever Joint Workshop of Pakistan-Afghanistan Parliamentarians on the topic of �Parliamentary Oversight� from April 22-23, 2008 in Islamabad. The two-day workshop was inaugurated by Senator Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali, the Acting Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan whereas the Concluding Session was addressed by Mr. Faisal Karim Kundi, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan. Speakers and Resource Persons on the Workshop had included Dr. Najma Heptulla, Member Rajya Sabha, India/ Former Deputy Chairperson, Rajya Sabah and President Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU); Senator Raza Rabbani, Leader of the House in the Senate; Senator S. M. Zafar, Chairman, Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights; Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman, Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Riaz Fatyana, MNA; Former Chairman, Subcommittee of the Public Accounts Committee, National Assembly of Pakistan; Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Pakistan�s Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs and Statistics, Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping and Privatization & Investment, Mr. Farhatullah Babar, Former Senator & Spokesman of the Chairman, Pakistan Peoples Party, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Former Senator and Former Federal Minister, etc.