NOTHING is better than a parliamentary joint session on the intense regional situation including the war with the Taliban regime. The questions disturbing the nation are about how its leadership sees its role in the ongoing conflict in the Gulf and how long the Taliban regime will take to address Pakistan’s concerns about terrorism, despite Pakistan’s tough policy.

The country is walking on a tightrope in the context of balancing its relations between Iran and its close Arab allies, mainly Saudi Arabia. One had no clue that after signing the defence pact with Saudi Arabia, the testing moment would come so soon.

Of course, the state’s current policy towards Afghanistan needs several clarifications — including what the ultimate goal is — especially whether it reflects a change of mind about the Taliban or a shift in the overall Afghanistan policy. There is certainly a difference between the two approaches.

Perhaps no one wants to elaborate whether the current phase of armed conflict with Afghanistan has anything to do with US President Donald Trump’s desire to take over the Bagram base, which was recently targeted by Pakistani jets. No forum is better than parliament to discuss these matters. However, we have seen that once the state apparatus has taken a decision, there is little room for parliament to resist. Rather, when the former is at a critical juncture in the execution of its policies or when it wants to share the burden of certain decisions, it refers such matters to parliament.

The war in the Gulf has overshadowed Pakistan’s confrontation with Afghanistan.

Perhaps such a moment has........

© Dawn