London, April 28: The Chairman and Members of the Defence Committee of the House of Commons UK held detailed interactions with the delegation of Pakistan�s Parliamentary Defence Committees, which is currently visiting the UK House of Commons.

The day-long meetings with the Defence Committee included a briefing to the Pakistan delegation on the Work, Remit and the Conduct of Hearings of the House of Commons Defence Committee by Mr. Mike Hennessy, Clerk of the Defence Committee, followed by the delegation�s witnessing of the hearing of the Defence Committee in which the Secretary of State for Defence, Rt. Hon. John Hutton gave his oral evidence before the Commons Defence Committee on �Readiness and recuperation for the Contingent Tasks of Today.� The Secretary of State for Defence, Rt. Hon. John Hutton also had a brief chat with the Pakistan�s Parliamentary delegation discussing the level of support and cooperation the British Ministry of Defence was providing to the Pakistan Armed Forces.

Rt. Hon. James Arbuthnot, MP and Chairman of the Commons Defence Committee (Con) met for a detailed discussion and exchange of views and experiences with the Pakistan delegation alongside members of the Defence Committee who included Mr. David Crausby, MP (Lab); Ms. Linda Gilroy, MP (Lab); Mr. Dai Harvard, MP (Lab); Mr. Bernard Jenkin, MP (Con); Mr. Brian Jenkins, MP (Lab); Mrs. Madeline Moon, MP (Lab) and Mr. Richard Younger-Ross, MP (Lib Dem). The Pakistan delegation, lead by Honouarble Mr. Faisal Karim Kundi, MNA, Deputy Speaker National Assembly (NA-24 D.I.Khan, NWFP, PPPP) included Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, MNA; Chairperson National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence (NA-213 Nawabshah-I, Sindh, PPPP); Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, MNA, Member National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence (NA-17 Abbottabad-I, NWFP, PML-N); Senator Prof. Khurshid Ahmad, Member Senate Standing Committee on Defence & Defence Production, (North West Frontier Province, MMA); Mr. Iftikharullah Babar, Additional Secretary, Senate of Pakistan, Secretary Senate Standing Committee on Defence & Defence Production; Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director and Ms. Aasiya Riaz, Joint Director of PILDAT.

The delegation will hold meetings with the UK Intelligence and Security Committee and meet with the Committee Chair Dr. Kim Howells, MP, on Wednesday, April 29, 2009, Chairman of the Committee.