PESHAWAR: Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani has stressed the need for evolving a comprehensive national narrative to effectively combat the menace of terrorism in the country.

`People will have to rise above political affiliations and wage struggle for rooting out the menace from the country,` he said while talking to journalists at National Institute of Management here on Wednesday.

The Senate chairman said that parliament was a supreme institution, which must play its effective role in evolving a workable counternarrative to get rid of terrorism. Expressing concerns over prevailing security situation in the region, he said that relations with India could not improve unless Kashmir issue was addressed as per the aspirations of the people of the held valley.

Mr Rabbani said that terrorism was a global issue and close coordination among regional countries was imperative to get rid of it. He said that federating units had yet to fully reap the fruits of 18th Amendment as they failed to utilise the powersdevolved to them.

Under the amendment, the Council of Common Interests had been strengthened, which provided a proper mechanism to resolve disputes among the provinces,he added.

The Senate chairman called for increasing powers of the upper house of the parliament as it provided equal representation to all the provinces. The Senate should be given a role in the budget preparation besides matters of national importance, he added.

Mr Rabbani said that Fata reforms pacl(age should be implemented as per the aspirations of tribal people. Legislation in that regard should be expedited, he added. He said that the reforms package was currently with National Assembly. He said that it would be passed by the Senate as soon as it was tabled before it. Later, the Senate chairman spoke on the topic of `challenges and implementation of provincial autonomy in the context of 18th Constitutional Amendment` before the officers and participants of midcareer management course (MCMC). Bureau