PM Imran constitutes advisory council on foreign affairs

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minster Imran Khan on Friday constituted an Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

The Advisory Council comprises of highly experienced former diplomats and ambassadors alongside academicians from the country’s renowned universities associated with the study of international relations and foreign policy, the foreign office said in a statement.

The council has been tasked to formulate recommendations related to Pakistan’s Foreign Policy, based on their experience and knowledge, especially issues that are not routinely concentrated on such as national resource constraints.

The nation needs to change its mindset of depending on others and make coordinated national efforts to convert the current challenges at different fronts into opportunities.@ImranKhanPTI #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/1DY7E764H7

— PTI (@PTIofficial) December 28, 2018

In order to emphasize on these issues, Dr. Adil Najam, a world-renowned expert has been included in the Advisory Council.

In order to dispel the impression of our foreign policy being mostly security centric and less directed towards economic issues, experts having relevant experience in international economics have been made part of the advisory council.

In order to have a holistic approach, Minsters of Finance, Commerce and Planning have also been included as Members of the Council.

The council will have representation from the Foreign Service Academy, the institution where diplomats are trained, linking the training academy directly with the policy making domain.

In addition to this, the Director General of Institute of Strategic Studies will also be a member of this council.

The first meeting of this council, under the chairmanship of the foreign minister will be convened shortly. All members of the council will serve in an honorary capacity without any monetary remunerations.

The Advisory Council, through its deliberations and recommendations, will help take stock of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy and make recommendations for the achievement of our foreign policy goals.