Govt terms decision to join Trump-led Board of Peace‘diplomatic win’
Opposition the move will multiply miseries of Palestinians
Achakzai condemns arrests of Imaan, Hadi
ISLAMABAD: Defending his government’s decision to join the Trump-led Board of Peace, Federal Minister for Planning AhsanIqbal said that Pakistan being at the “centre stage” along with its brother Muslim countries to contribute towards peace in Gaza and Palestine was a “diplomatic win”.
“This diplomatic win should be celebrated,” Ahsan defended the government’s move on Friday while delivering a speech in the joint session of Parliament summoned by President Zardari a day earlier, which was presided over by NA Speaker SardarAyazSadiq.
He began his speech by recalling nuclear tests by Pakistan in 1998. “We set an example of Pakistan’s liberty and sovereignty when the then-US president called five times […] Pakistan was being pressurised from the world, but we took the decision [to conduct the tests] with courage,” he said.
Amid a noisy protest from the opposition benches, he asserted, “We don’t need to be taught about Pakistan’s defence and integrity. We are the defenders of Pakistan’s freedom and sovereignty.”
Ahsansaid the government and armed forces had proved during a four-day conflict with India in May that anyone intending to harm the country would get a befitting reply. “So nobody can taunt that we are cowards and negligent,” he added.
Listing other Muslim countries that joined the Board of Peace, Ahsanasked were they not Muslim countries and brother countries of Pakistan. “Have they joined [the Board of Peace] to contribute to the bloodshed of Muslims?”
The minister added: “Our stance regarding Palestine is unchanged. We still believe that the state of Palestine is the right of the people of Palestine. Pakistan supported this in the past and, it supports it today as well.”
However, Senate Opposition Leader Raja Nasir Abbas took exception to the government’s decision to join the Board of Peace without taking Parliament into confidence.
“The board will further add to the miseries of the people of Palestine. What Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu could not do will begin in the name of Board of Peace,” he decried.
JamiatUlema-i-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) chief MaulanaFazalRehman also voiced opposition to the decision, claiming it was taken because of the “fear of Trump”.
He accused the US president of strengthening Israel against Muslim countries such as Iran.
Joint session passes 3 bills: The joint session also saw the passage of three bills — the Daanish Schools Authority Bill 2025, the Human Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025, and the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill 2025 — amid protest by the opposition.
During the session, opposition members, led by opposition leaders in the Senate and NA — Abbas and Mehmood Khan Achakzai — gathered near the speaker’s dias and protested against the bills.
Achakzaicondemns Imaan and Hadi’s arrests: Opposition leader in the NA Achakzai, while speaking in the National Assembly today, condemned the arrest of activist and lawyer ImaanZainabMazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, stating that “targeting political dissenters violated the Constitution”. Staff Report
