Senate body urges cyber security for foreign ministry, missions

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Thursday asked the government to take immediate steps to ensure cyber security for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and its missions abroad.

The committee met at the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (Pips) to primarily discuss and review budget allocation and its utilisation by the ministry during first six months of financial year 2016-17.

The committee meeting was presided over by its Chairperson Nuzhat Sadiq as she remarked that public diplomacy was crucial for projecting the soft image of the country.

She said that Pakistan’s foreign policy was on the right track and Pakistani missions abroad needed to be made more vibrant for promoting national interests. The forum was informed that two new missions would be opened in Dammam and Madina cities of Saudi Arabia to facilitate Pakistanis living there.

Among others, the meeting was attended by Senators Daud Khan Achakzai, Haji Momin Khan Afridi, Col (R) Syed Tahir Husain Mashhadi, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Ayesha Raza Farooq, Karim Ahmed Khawaja, Daud Khan Achakzai, Farhatullah Babar, Additional Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Director General (Headquarters and Finance) and other senior officials.

PML-Q’s Senator Mushahid Hussain told the committee that Pakistan was one of three countries in the world alongside China and Iran, monitored extensively by foreign spies.

He lamented that Pakistan had still not taken any measures to ensure cyber security. "We are quite late in this regard," he said, raising concerns over a delay in a release of funds sought by the ministry for cyber security.

The ministry had sought Rs80 million from the federal government for the purposes of improving cyber security. However, this amount has yet to be released, an additional secretary of the ministry revealed.

He acknowledged on the occasion that there cyber threats to ministry and Pakistan’s missions abroad are ever present, and there is a serious need to secure them. During the meeting, the Foreign Office had to face severe criticism for a planned state guest house in Islamabad, for which it has sought Rs5 billion.

Senator Hussain pointed out that it was ironic that the ministry was seeking Rs5 billion for a state guest house when it could not manage Rs80 million for cyber security, which was a far greater threat. The standing committee strongly recommended to the federal government that it released the funds promised for cyber security to the ministry on an emergency basis.