Except for Mohsin Dawar, the leader of the National Democratic Movement, there was almost universal agreement that the discussions should go forward, a meeting participant.
The Parliamentary Committee on National Security formally endorsed the negotiation process and the creation of a “Parliamentary Oversight Committee,” according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office about the meeting.
The parliamentary approval of the controversial conversations with the banned organization that has claimed nearly 70,000 lives in the nation is considered a major endorsement of the process, which had hitherto been largely managed by the military in complete secret. The 27 members of the high-powered parliamentary committee, which is made up of the prime minister, the leaders of the house and the opposition in the Senate, as well as the leaders of parliamentary parties, attended the four-hour meeting, which was presided over by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. Members of the Senate’s and the National Assembly’s defense standing committees had also been invited.
