Islamabad, May 05; PILDAT has welcomed the announcement by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security to convene its meeting on May 09. It is a much needed initiative and crucial for Parliament to investigate and scrutinise the events leading up to the killing of Osama Bin Laden on the sovereign soil of Pakistan by the US troops.

While the Parliamentary committee needs to focus on the specific issue, it is equally important that the Committee seeks details of a formal status of forces agreement, if one exists, that Pakistan has entered into with United States of America which establishes the framework under which Pakistan is cooperating with the United States in a comprehensive security arrangement. Such a mechanism is needed to be placed before the committee so it can investigate the legal framework within which US security and intelligence personnel operate in Pakistan and how the domestic laws of Pakistan are applied toward them.

If Pakistan has not entered into a formal status of forces agreement with the United States, the Committee needs to demand comprehensive details of any written or otherwise agreement that applies on Pak-US relations and arrangements for security and intelligence cooperation. Both the military establishment and the foreign office keep referring to red lines that the US should not cross on cooperation on counter terrorism and the committee must demand details of all such cooperation that falls under green, amber or red lines.