ISLAMABAD - Drawing broader contours with an aim to strengthen the civil-military relationship in order “to counter external and internal security threats,” a parliamentary panel of the Upper House has prepared a detailed work plan for the ongoing year, to be launched soon.Named as “Plan of Action,” the work plan was shared by the Senate’s Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed.To be followed phase-wise, the six-month work plan would be effective till December 31, 2012 and oversee the committee’s working in two phases. In the first phase, the committee is to summon the officials concerned at Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for their briefings and updates on the relevant security issues while in the second phase, competent authorities at the allied organisations as well as intelligence agencies working under the ambit of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Ministry of Defence Production (MoDP) would appear before the Senate’s defence panel to share inputs on the respective matters concerning their professional responsibilities.These include Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF), Military Intelligence (MI), Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), Survey of Pakistan, Military Accounts, Strategic Plans Division (SPD), National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM), National Development Complex (NDC), Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT), Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL), Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Airport Security Force (ASF) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Speaking during the Wednesday’s session, the committee’s Chairman Senator Mushahid Hussain said, Pakistan faces grave security challenges coming from internal non-state actors as well as external elements. “Our unity is the only key that can pull us out of this mess. Together we can brave every odd what may come,” the senator said. “The Parliament, in this hour of crises, has to play a frontline role and exercise its powers the Constitution vests in it. I believe a smooth civil-military relationship is the need of the hour to protect the national interests and formulate policies to counter internal and external security threats.” Referring to the US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta’s statement in which he had warned that the US was ‘losing patience with Pakistan’ for what he termed as the country’s aid to the terrorist groups like Haqqani Network, Mushahid said, “No force on this planet would dare threat us if we manage to build-up a consolidated civil-military relationship-that could justify our military policy with the endorsement and necessary backing of the parliament, political circles, civil society and the public.” Hinting to review Pakistan’s military strategy vis-à-vis the ongoing military operations in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) that have thus far failed to yield significant results, Mushahid Hussain said, the Senate’s Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production would review the defence strategy at the borderlands and devise recommendations accordingly.According to on official statement, Mushahid reiterated his resolve “to make the Senate’s defence panel serve as a bridge between ‘Khaki’ (army) and ‘Mufti’ (civilians).” The committee would prepare annual reports containing proposals and recommendations and identify loopholes regarding civil-military relationship for the formulation of a coherent strategy at policy level, the chairman said. President Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the committee’s member Senator Chaudhry Shujat Hussain believed, the work plan needed to be implemented ‘religiously’ and ‘in letter and spirit’ for achieving the envisaged goals. “This is a very impressive plan but it needs to be implemented religiously if the desire results are to be achieved n letter and spirit. Only then can the strategic challenges pertaining to Pakistan’s national security be identified, debated and recommended for their resolution at the appropriate forums.” He urged the committee to launch the working plan at the earliest, which, according to him, would guide the future course of the committee’s proceedings. The three major decisions the committee unanimously arrived at, on Wednesday, included reviewing Pakistan’s security scenario on monthly basis, meeting the bereaved families of Gayari incident victims and revering the recipients of Nishan-e-Haider, Pakistan’s highest military award, on September 6, the Defence Day.