APP: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday said the new director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (new DG ISI) will be appointed in accordance with the existing rules and regulations and the authority to appoint the new spymaster rests with the prime minister.
Addressing a press conference after a weekly meeting of the federal cabinet, the minister said that the relations between the government and the military were “ideal”.
According to Fawad, PM Imran and General Qamar Javed Bajwa had a “long meeting” last night to stamp out issues surrounding the ISI chief’s appointment. “Imran Khan and Gen Bajwa enjoy a very close relationship and the ties between the two are cordial,” Fawad added.
He added that the Prime Minister’s Office will not take any kind of step to undermine the Pakistan Army and its chief, Gen Bajwa, whereas the military and the army chief won’t take steps to sideline the prime minister and the civilian set-up.
He categorically said that there would be no step taken either from the Prime Minister office or the military setup to damage the repute of one another.
Both the leaders enjoyed good and close cooperation with each other and the final decision would be taken with mutual consensus, he added. The minister said there was close liaison between Pakistan’s military and political leadership and relationships were ideal.
He said that the cabinet made a land mark decision for approval of online power of attorney for overseas Pakistanis as this government had feelings for the problems faces by them in that regard.
Fawad said that in the past, no government ever bothered to resolve the problems of expatriates but the present government had attached special priority to settle their issues.
It was the PTI government which took steps for repatriation of hundreds of Pakistani prisoners languishing in foreign jails in petty crimes, he added.
The minister said that another important development was that the cabinet was given presentation for setting up a new unit in Islamabad police for mob handling.
This unit would be well trained and equipped with latest technology including drones and cameras to ensure that the residents of the capital were protected from such riots and they do not face inconvenience of road closures every now and then, he added.
He said that Supreme Court had imposed ban on protests at D-Chowk but still a handful people block the road there whenever they like. The new unit would be a very good initiative to protect the capital from protesters, he added.
Fawad said the Cabinet had decided to include the traders coming from Afghanistan to Pakistan in visa list as the volume of goods being traded between the two countries had increased manifold.
