ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has undertaken 14 official visits to nine countries during the somewhat troubled 18 months of his government.
These numbers were presented before the National Assembly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to a question asked by Parveen Masood Bhatti of the ruling PML-N. Bhatti wanted to inquire “the results and the benefits of the visits abroad by the prime minister so far.”
There was no mention of the private visits of Sharif to Saudi Arabia and the UK since the question pertained to only about the official visits.
The MNAs could not ask any supplementary questions as the Speaker had suspended question hour to allow members to debate on the issue of the internally displaced persons of North Waziristan.
This information has come to light at a time when the prime minister was facing immense criticism from his opponents, particularly PTI chief Imran Khan, for his alleged “extravagance” on the foreign trips.
According to the information, the prime minister has undertaken three visits each to the United States (US) and China, two visits to Turkey and one visit each to India, Iran, Nepal, Afghanistan and Thailand.
The reply does not mention the recent visit of the prime minister to the UK to attend an international conference on Afghanistan.
The reply provided details of the prime minister’s engagements during the visits. The ministry described all the visits as extremely successful for the country.
Sharif visited the US in September 2013, October 2013 and again in September 2014. Similarly, he undertook visits to China in July 2013, April 2014 and November 2014. Despite being present in New York to attend the UN General Assembly in September 2013, the prime minister travelled to Washington after a few days to meet US President Barack Obama and other US government functionaries.
Besides meeting the US officials, “the prime minister also attended a business event organised by the US-Pakistan Business Council, addressed the United States Institute of Peace, met prominent US journalists and interacted with the local Pakistani community,” says the reply, counting these activities as an achievement. It also gave details of MoUs and agreements signed by Pakistan with different countries during these visits.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary performance of the incumbent government of Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) remains below par in both houses of parliament, raising questions over the seriousness of lawmakers about the legislative work.
According to the official figures submitted to NA by government last week, the PML-N-led government presented 18 bills in Lower House and nine bills in Senate since it came to power following the May 11, 2013, general elections. The government got 15 bills passed through NA while all nine bills were cleared by Upper House, revealed the figures.
The previous government of Pakistan Peoples Party had set a record by passing 116 bills with an average of more than 23 bills per parliamentary year. Interestingly, not a single private bill has been passed by NA during PML-N government, which received 62 private bills in the past 19 months, revealed the figures.
Internews
