Committee Pays Tribute to the Martyrs of the Armed Forces, Seeks Progress Reports on Skardu Airport Projects and Free Medical Camps Near Defence Installations

Islamabad (Sardar Yousaf Khan): A meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence was held at Parliament House under the chairmanship of Fatahullah Khan, during which the committee recommended that the Pakistan Air Safety Investigation (Amendment) Bill, 2026 be approved by the National Assembly.

At the beginning of the meeting, prayers were offered for the departed souls of the martyrs of the Armed Forces and Civil Armed Forces, and the committee paid rich tribute to their unmatched sacrifices in the defence of the country.

The committee was informed that the proposed amendment bill had been prepared to address legal and administrative shortcomings that emerged following the merger of the former Aviation Division into the Ministry of Defence in February 2025. Under the proposed amendments, the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI) will be renamed the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation Pakistan (BASIP), while the head of the institution will be redesignated from Director to Director General.

The committee was further informed that the amendment bill includes provisions to facilitate the hiring of technical experts, improve regulations relating to part-time and temporary employees, authorize the Secretary of Defence to grant exemptions in cases where no conflict of interest exists, expedite legal proceedings, and rectify technical deficiencies in the original law enacted in 2023.

The meeting also reviewed progress on the implementation of previous parliamentary directives. The committee received a briefing on the expansion of Skardu Airport, the construction of a new terminal, and other development projects. It also agreed that a parliamentary delegation would visit the site to review the progress of these projects.

The committee directed the Ministry of Defence to submit a comprehensive progress report at its next meeting regarding the establishment of monthly free medical camps for civilian populations residing in areas surrounding defence installations.