- PM Khan terms the NSP’s approval a historic moment
ISLAMABAD: In a landmark development, Pakistan’s first-ever National Security Policy (NSP) 2022-2026 was approved by the National Security Council (NSC) on Monday, putting the economic security at the core.
The policy will now be presented before the federal cabinet on December 28.
PM Imran Khan, while chairing the 36th meeting of NSC, termed the NSP’s formulation and approval a historic moment, the prime minister said that the policy must guide all organs of the government to ensure that their efforts are synchronised with the overall direction of the NSP.
He further stated that the security of Pakistan rests in the security of its citizens and reposed confidence that “Pakistan is well prepared to meet any internal and external threats”.
He also instructed National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf to present an implementation progress report to the NSC every month. The meeting was attended by federal ministers for foreign affairs, defence, information and broadcasting, interior, finance, human rights, chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, all services chiefs, National Security Adviser and senior civil and military officers.
To ensure the citizen-centric approach to security, the NSP put economic security at the core, saying a stronger economy would create additional resources that would in turn be judiciously distributed to further bolster military and human security.
The NSA briefed the participants on the salient features of the NSP and highlighted that Pakistan is shifting to a Comprehensive National Security Framework whereby the ultimate purpose of national security is to ensure the safety, security and dignity of the citizen of Pakistan.
Participants were informed that the NSP had been created through a whole-of-government effort over the last seven years, and included extensive consultations among federal government institutions, with all provinces, and with the academia and private sector.
Apart from the economic and military issues, the draft sheds light on the country’s water security as well as population growth, terrorism and foreign policy, particularly concerning the Kashmir and Afghan issues and relations with other countries in the region and beyond.
Revitalisation of the Planning Committee and the expansion of NSC’s Advisory Board was also unanimously approved by the participants during the meeting. The NSP will now be presented to the Cabinet before being officially adopted. A public version of the document will be released in due course. NSC members, while approving the NSP, appreciated the National Security Division and all other government departments for this effort.
With the approval of the draft, it is being said that the country’s challenges and opportunities would be outlined for the first time and the government would be able to refer to the policy guidelines in the future.
It was highlighted that a detailed implementation framework had been created through which the National Security Division would review progress in collaboration with relevant ministries and departments.
