Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production, in an interaction with senior office bearers and representatives of the Defence Correspondents Association of Pakistan (DCAP) at Parliament House, has said that the culture of secrecy and confidentiality needs to be discarded to ensure transparency and openness in the policy making particularly those relating to defence and national security.

He said that the role of Parliament and media is not only  crucial in strengthening the Defence of the country but also in taking the biggest stakeholder i.e the people of Pakistan on board with a view to muster popular support for policies in the field of defence and security.

Senator Mushahid welcomed the creation of DCAP and said that it will help the committee to have an institutional relationship with media on issues of national security. He reiterated that the committee will not only act as a bridge between Khaki and Mufti but will also strive to develop a good working relationship between media and military to promote and protect our national interests at global and international level in a befitting manner.

Apprising the media men about the initiatives, Senator Mushahid remarked that a viable work plan has been prepared. The Committee will arrange regular workshops, interactive sessions and hearings etc in coordination with ISPR and civil society organizations to create awareness about the defence related matters and challenges being faced in the changing global scenario.   Senator Mushahid Hussain also invited  members of DCAP to attend the Policy Seminar of the Senate Defence Committee being held on November 1 on the theme:
'Towards 2014: Challenges of NATO in Afghanistan'.

President DCAP Muhammad Imran, Secretary General Ahmed Mansoor and other members of the Association appreciated the Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production for his innovative approach and new ideas, expressing the hope that the initiatives would help in trim down the trust deficit gap between various stakeholders. They also informed Senator Mushahid about the issues being faced by the reporters in the defence field and proposed that training and orientation of the media representatives would help create more understanding of the sensitive issues and positive reporting of the defence matters.

Senator Mushahid welcomed the proposals and hoped that such regular interactions and brainstorming would provide vision to act, coherently, in a more professional manner with the sole aim of strengthening the defence of the country through transparency and openness. ********