Senate chairman leaves for Belarus after foreign travel ban
Yousaf Raza Gilani's official visit comes a day after the Senate announced a three-month ban on foreign visits, with specified exceptions.
Chairman Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani left Islamabad on Wednesday for an official visit to Belarus, a day after the Senate Secretariat announced austerity measures that include a three-month ban on foreign travel, subject to specified exceptions.
The Senate Secretariat said in a press release that Gilani is visiting at the invitation of Natalya Kochanova, chairperson of the Council of the Republic of Belarus. The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and parliamentary cooperation, the release said, and carries particular significance given growing momentum in Pakistan-Belarus relations.
Gilani is accompanied by Senators Dostain Domki, Umer Farooq, Mohsin Aziz, Shahzaib Durrani and Amir Chishti, according to the secretariat. During the visit he is scheduled to meet the president of Belarus, the Belarusian parliamentary leadership and other senior officials.
The meetings will cover bilateral relations, parliamentary exchanges and regional and international developments, the Senate Secretariat said. Gilani will also press for regular parliamentary exchanges, institutional linkages between the two parliaments and greater interaction among parliamentarians and parliamentary committees.
On Tuesday, the Senate Secretariat announced a package of fuel conservation and austerity measures it said aimed to reduce expenditure and promote efficient use of public resources. It included a complete ban on foreign visits and travel for three months, subject to specified exceptions, and said official dinners would only be hosted for visiting foreign delegations.
The package also cut fuel provision for official vehicles by 50 percent for three months, banned purchase of vehicles of all types, and imposed a five percent monthly reduction in the non-ERE budget for financial year 2026-27. The secretariat said it would prefer teleconferencing for meetings except intra-city meetings and keep the number of meetings to a minimum. Government-funded seminars, trainings and conferences are prohibited.
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