By Shams Soomro

A high-powered delegation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) was on an official visit to Pakistan from the other day. It was led by Dr Karl A. Lamers, a vice president of the NATO PA. Born in 1951 in Duisburg-Hamborn (Germany), Lamers is a doctor in law, a member of the Christian Democratic Party since 1975 and a member of the German Bundestag since 1994 and President of the Parliament of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The delegation had six other members: Jan Petersen (Norway), Vice President of the NATO PA, Bart van Winsen (The Netherlands), Senator Raynell Andreychuk (Canada), Markus Meckel (Germany), Nikolai Kamov (Bulgaria), Denis Macshane (UK) and Rasa Jukneviciene (Lithuania). Director, NATO PA’s Political Committee, Steffen Sachs and Frank Graef were accompanying the delegation as its secretary and interpreter (English/German) respectively.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe, dedicated to achieving the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty signed on 4 April 1949. As per the Treaty, the fundamental role of the NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means. Primarily aimed at defending Europe against the former Soviet Union and its allies, NATO has realigned its role in the post Cold War era with some of the former Warsaw Pact countries, entering its fold. It is now playing an increasingly important role in the areas of crisis management and peacekeeping in the world of today.
Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative inter-parliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. The headquarters of the Assembly’s 30-strong International Secretariat is in central Brussels. Since the end of the Cold War, the Assembly has assumed a new role by integrating into its work parliamentarians from those countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and beyond who seek a closer association with NATO. This integration has provided both political and practical assistance and has contributed to the strengthening of parliamentary democracy throughout the Euro-Atlantic region, thereby complementing and reinforcing NATO’s own programme of partnership and cooperation.

The NATO PA consists of 248 delegates from the 26 NATO-member countries. Delegates from 13 associate countries, 4 Mediterranean associate countries, the European Parliament as well as parliamentary observers from 8 other countries and 3 Inter-parliamentary assemblies also take part in its activities. The Assembly’s governing body is the Standing Committee, which is composed of the Head of each member delegation, the President, the 4 Vice Presidents, the Treasurer and the Secretary General. The International Secretariat, under its Secretary General, is responsible for all administration and the bulk of research and analysis that supports the Assembly’s Committees (5), Sub-Committees and other groups. The Committees and Sub-Committees produce reports, which are discussed in draft form at the Assembly’s Spring Session. The reports are then revised and up-dated for discussion, amendment and adoption at the Assembly’s Annual Session in the Autumn. The Assembly meets twice a year in different countries. It is directly funded by member parliaments and governments, and is financially and administratively separate from NATO itself.

In June 2004, President Bush designated Pakistan as a “Major Non-NATO Ally” under the Foreign Assistance Act and Arms Export Control Act, opening the doors for greater Defence Cooperation between Pakistan and the US. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, during his visit to Brussels from 24 to 27 January 2005, visited NATO Headquarters and had a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mr Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. The Secretary General expressed great appreciation for Pakistan’s role in maintaining peace and stability in our region. He thanked the Prime Minister for Pakistan’s important contribution in the fight against terrorism.
Pakistan and NATO share common objectives of ensuring peace at the regional as well as global level. Both have common perceptions on peace and stability in the region. Pakistan and NATO enjoy good coordination over Afghanistan and around the world. NATO can benefit from Pakistan’s experience as front State in fighting the global terrorist threat. There is a need for strengthening institutional linkages. The host of the NATO PA’s Delegation in Pakistan, Mohammedmian Soomro, Chairman, Senate of Pakistan, in his meeting with the delegates in Islamabad, appreciated NATO’s offer of training for our armed forces and said that Pakistan was interested in availing of this training. He also appreciated NATO’s role in maintaining peace in different parts of the world and hoped that International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), under the NATO’s Command since August 2003, would soon stabilize peace in Afghanistan which is crucial to Pakistan’s security interests. He told the delegates that there had been visible improvement in the age-old Pak-Afghan relations during the past four years, with bilateral trade reaching a record level of US$1.2 billion and 13 agreements (MoUs) signed between the two countries. He stressed the need for continued support to Afghanistan by international community and informed the delegates that Pakistan had put in more efforts than any other country in rooting out terrorism and deployed twice the number of foreign troops and suffered thrice the number of their casualties in Afghanistan. He noted that prompt exchange of information was a key to success in the war against terrorism and expected that the Tripartite Commission (TPC) would be more fully utilized for greater sharing of intelligence and enhanced security cooperation.
The NATO PA Delegates have visited Islamabad and Lahore, eating in Anarkali’s Food Street and enjoying the peace and security in the country and hospitality of its people. They discussed with the Chairman, Senate and other dignitaries the Pakistan’s foreign and security policies, priorities and challenges, latest developments and NATO operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and NATO’s relations and role in regional and international security, domestic developments in Pakistan, Iran’s nuclear programme and the future of the non-proliferation regime, Islamabad’s assessment of Iraq and tackling of the internationally-active terrorist groups. The Chairman brought home to the Delegates that when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the West armed and encouraged the Mujahideen fighting the Occupation Forces; but when the Soviet Union collapsed, the West abandoned the Mujahideen; and some of them have formed the terrorist organisations in their perception in retaliation for injustices to their countries by the West. He added, “It is most difficult to fight the people whom you train because they know your thought process”. He shared with the delegation that the Iranian leadership should engage into a meaningful dialogue over the issue of nucalarisation under universal and uniform policy. The Delegates returned home, well-informed and convinced by their hosts that Pakistan is in safe hands and contributing singularly more than its due in combating terrorism and cooperation for international and regional peace besides progressing in all spheres of life at home.

(Mr. Shams Soomro is DG (PR), Senate Secretariat, Islamabad).

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