The 35th meeting of the National Security Committee. Photo courtesy PID
Pakistan’s first-ever national security policy aims at outlining policy guidelines to mitigate future problems and boost potential opportunities
The National Security Council (NSC) will meet today (Monday) to review Pakistan’s first-ever national security policy, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain announced on Sunday, adding that a draft document will be presented for approval prior to its implementation.
According to a statement posted on Twitter, Fawad said the NSC meeting had been summoned by Prime Minister Imran Khan. If approved, the national security policy would be the first such initiative in the country’s history, as a national security policy has not yet been formally documented.
In addition to the prime minister, the meeting would be attended by Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the information minister, National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum, and other senior government and military officials.
According to local media, the draft policy aims at centralizing economic and military security while outlining the challenges and opportunities facing Pakistan in the coming years. It also seeks to outline policy guidelines to mitigate problems and boost opportunities through a “whole-of-government approach.” The draft also focuses on the country’s water security concerns, as well as population growth, terrorism and foreign policy, especially the threats posed by the Kashmir dispute, Afghanistan’s security situation, and other global concerns.
A draft of the national security policy was presented to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security earlier this month. The session was, however, boycotted by the opposition to protest the incumbent government’s reliance on legislating through presidential ordinances.
The information minister, on Twitter, said that the NSC meeting would be briefed on the latest situation in Afghanistan as well as other national security issues. He also told daily Dawn that the draft being presented during the meeting would be made public at a later stage.