News Desk
ISLAMABAD :Former Senate chairman and senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Raza Rabbani on Monday urged the federal government to immediately take parliament into confidence on various aspects of its “new US policy”.
In a statement, Rabbani said that the people have the right to know details and direction of foreign policy, stressing that history had shown the US had never proved to be a “reliable friend”.
Responding to the agreement with American metals company US Strategic Metals (USSM) on the purchase of minerals, he regretted that agreements over rare minerals were being reported by the media, rather than being shared by the government, calling this “unfortunate”.
The PPP leader further stated that real stakeholders — the provinces — should have been taken into confidence through the Council of Common Interests, adding that the government was not even acknowledging that, under Article 172 of the Constitution, the provinces were half owners of natural resources.
He pointed out that provinces had already rejected the federal government’s proposed mineral law. He urged the government to immediately take parliament into confidence over all aspects of its new US policy.
In recent months, Washington’s ties with Islamabad have improved following US President Donald Trump’s intervention in the armed conflict between Pakistan and India, which resulted in a ceasefire.
Following the intervention, the incumbent government nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Under the memorandum of understanding with Pakistan in September, the USSM would invest around $500 million in its critical minerals sector to establish mineral processing and development facilities in the country.
