KARACHI: The federal government has decided to take concerns of the Sindh and Balochistan governments into consideration while issuing licences for hunting of the houbara bustard to foreign dignitaries in order to help save the endangered bird and ensure adequate security for the foreigners.

The provinces have argued that issuance of hunting licences by the federal government is a violation of the provincial autonomy granted under the 18th Constitutional Amendment and also a deviation from international conventions on the conservation of wildlife species.

Reliable sources told Dawn on Friday that the Balochistan government had taken up the issue at a recently held meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI). The province`s stance was seconded by the Sindh government, which argued that it `must be taken into consideration while issuing licences so that wildlife species, which faced extinction could be saved.The CCI meeting held in Islamabad on May 29 with the prime minister in the chair was informed that the issue had been referred to the ministry of foreign affairs, which had submitted its opinion on it to the ministry of inter-provincial coordination.

To justify its prerogative to issuing hunting licences, the foreign ministry had cited rule 56 of the Rules of Business, which said that `except as provided in sub-rule (2), all correspondence with the government of a foreign country or a Pakistan diplomatic mission abroad or foreign mission in Pakistan or an international organisation shall normally be conducted through the foreign affairs division.

Therefore, the federal government representative in the CCI meeting argued that all kinds of international dealings, treaties and agreements fell under the purview of the foreign affairs division `including allocation of hunting areas to foreign dignitaries`.

`If all hunting areas are to be regulated through provinces, then it will not be possible for the federal government toabide by its commitments at international level,` the CCI was told.

To which, Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch replied that the provinces did not want to disturb the country`s international relations. Rather, the sources quoted Mr Malik as having said that the provinces wanted to be `part of the process` and intended to be in the loop for making `foolproof security arrangements` for foreign dignitarles.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah supported his counterpart`s stand, said the sources.

The premier observed that hunting was `traditional` and allotting of areas to foreign dignitaries was a `sensitive matter` with respect to foreign relations and the federal government had `serious considerations` on this issue.

However, he appreciated the provinces` stance and reportedly issued directions to the ministry of foreign affairs `to take the provinces on board while allocating hunting areas to foreign dignitaries,` as per decision taken by the CCI.