A meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) convened by the Shehbaz Sharif government has reached the conclusion that an earlier meeting had come to a few weeks ago. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met his promise of reconvening the NSC on the issue of the ‘Cablegate’. According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, the meeting was attended by the NSC members and the former ambassador of Pakistan to the US where ambassador Asad Majeed briefed the committee on the contents and background of his ‘storm-creating’ telegram. The NSC endorsed the decisions of its previous meeting after examining the content and communication. The committee was re-informed by key security agencies based on their investigation that they had not found any evidence of ‘conspiracy’. Minister of State for External Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar says that cipher is being used for political purposes, while Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah says there is no mention of a no-confidence motion in the letter.
Given the beef of the discussion ongoing for months, apparently, there is no life left in the conspiracy stance after the detailed explanation of the national security agencies and the ambassador, but the PTI leadership is not ready to accept and reiterates its demand for an inquiry into the matter through a judicial commission. Ironically, the previous government itself did not form a judicial commission to look into the issue. In the last days of the government, a commission of inquiry was announced and its head was appointed not a judge, but a former general and he too immediately apologized for discharging this responsibility. According to the former government, the letter was also sent to the chief justice of the Supreme Court, but he himself did not feel the need to take any action on it. Moreover, even if a judicial inquiry is to be held, the task would be left to those security agencies which have twice before presented their findings in NSC meetings that the matter is neither a conspiracy nor so serious. For these reasons, it would not be wrong to say that the position of the former ruling party in this matter has no solid basis and appears to be merely political exploitation by the PTI against the incumbent government.
