ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the cabinet adopted the nation’s first-ever National Security Policy Tuesday, a day after it was approved by the National Security Committee (NSC), National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf announced.
1/5. After the NSC’s endorsement of Pakistan’s first-ever National Security Policy yesterday, the Cabinet has approved it today. It is a truly historic achievement; a citizen-centric comprehensive Nat. Sec. policy with economic security at the core will now be pursued in earnest.
— Moeed W. Yusuf (@YusufMoeed) December 28, 2021
“It is a truly historic achievement; a citizen-centric comprehensive [national security] policy with economic security at the core will now be pursued in earnest,” Yusuf said.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, who chaired the successive meetings, Monday said the policy must guide all organs of the government to ensure their efforts are synchronised with the overall direction of the policy.
He stressed the security of Pakistan rests in the security of its people and reposed confidence that “Pakistan is well prepared to meet any internal and external threats”.
To ensure the people-centric approach to security, the policy put economic security at the core, the prime minister said, adding a stronger economy would create additional resources that would, in turn, be judiciously distributed to further bolster military and human security.
Today, Yusuf said the policy, contents of which have not been yet shared publicly, will help guide “sectoral policies for the fulfilment of our national security objectives”.
2/5. This umbrella document will, overtime, help guide sectoral policies for the fullfiment of our national security objectives.
— Moeed W. Yusuf (@YusufMoeed) December 28, 2021
He thanked the civil and military leadership for their support and input, adding the policy would “never have come to light without Prime Minister’s constant leadership and encouragement”.
3/5. I would like to thank the civil and military leadership for all their support and input. The Policy would not have seen the light of day without the Prime Minister’s constant leadership and encouragement.
— Moeed W. Yusuf (@YusufMoeed) December 28, 2021
“The success of the policy will lie in its implementation for which a plan has been developed,” the official further said.
A public version of it will be launched by Khan in due course, he announced.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar said the policy was an important milestone in strengthening Pakistan’s national security.
“The comprehensive framework recognises interlinkages between various strands of national security, imperative to meet emerging challenges in [the] evolving global environment through a whole of government effort,” he said.
“Pakistan’s armed forces will play their due part in achieving the vision laid out in the policy,” the ISPR director general said.
The policy
On Monday, the National Security Committee, which is the government’s top-most consultative and decision-making body for coordinating issues pertaining to national security, approved the policy.
The session, presided over by Prime Minister Imran, was attended by the federal ministers for foreign affairs, defence, information and broadcasting, interior, finance and human rights, the national security adviser, services chiefs and senior officials.
The five-year policy document covering the period 2022-26 is being flaunted by the government as the first-ever strategy paper of its kind that sets out the state’s national security vision and guidelines for the attainment of those goals. It will guide the government’s foreign, defence and economic policies and decision-making.
It reportedly seeks to leverage the symbiotic linkages among human security, economic security and military security with safety and prosperity of citizens being at the centre of the whole-of-government approach.
It covers both traditional and non-traditional security challenges, including economy, food, water, military security, terrorism, population growth and dealings with the external world, especially major powers.
The document places special emphasis on economic diplomacy as the focus of Pakistan’s foreign policy aimed at avoiding being sucked into bloc politics in a world order under transition. It has been prepared by the National Security Division.
Several rounds of feedback consultations on multiple drafts were held with all state institutions, including provincial governments and the governments of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Over 600 academics, analysts, civil society members and students across Pakistan have been consulted to make the policy process inclusive.
A draft of the policy was earlier this month also shared with the Parliamentary Committee on National Security. The meeting was, however, boycotted by the opposition parties.
The National Security Policy is expected to be a dynamic document that will be reviewed each year and on the transition of government to help keep it abreast with its policy priorities in a fast-changing global environment. Work on the policy began in 2014.
It is pertinent to note that on Tuesday, after the cabinet approved the country’s first-ever national security policy, Moeed reiterated that the national security policy had economic security at its core and focused on the security of the common man.
“If there is economic security, you will then have opportunities to spend on military and human security,” he stated.
Moeed during a presser, alongside Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry in Islamabad, felicitated the country by stating that “I congratulate the entire nation as it is very difficult to devise policies if a country’s vision on national security is not clear,” he said, adding that the national security policy was an umbrella document that would provide direction for the formulation of sectoral policies and strategies.
He further said on the matter of national cohesion, the policy identified Pakistan’s diversity and that unity should be built around it.
“We are an Islamic state and have the vision of an Islamic state. The policy will cover all aspects of diversity within that realm,” Yusuf added.
Moreover, Yusuf continued, the policy centred on peace with neighbouring and other countries as far as external relations were concerned.
He went on to state that education had been linked to the economy in the new policy as the former was related to building human resources, which would benefit the economy.
Yusuf went on to reveal that while the policy draft was a classified document, a public version of it would be finalised and launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan within seven to 10 days.
Earlier, Chaudhry said the same, adding that it was for the first time that “national security has been clubbed with the economy”.
“A strong economy guarantees your security,” he said.
More importantly, the minister added, the policy focused on the security of the common man.
“Until a common is not satisfied with the economic, social and legal situation, the country’s security will be at risk,” he said.
The information minister went on to announce that the federal cabinet had given approval for the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the murder of Nazim Jokhio, who was tortured to death during alleged illegal detention at the farmhouse of PPP MPA Jam Awais in Malir, Karachi.
“You are well aware of what was done to protect the murderers in this case … A criminal investigation was compromised. This is unacceptable,” he said, adding that this was why approval was given for the constitution of a JIT.
It is pertinent to note that Nazim Jokhio was found tortured to death at the farmhouse of PPP MPA Jam Awais on November 3. The victim’s family accuses the MPA of torturing him to death for resisting houbara bustard hunting by the lawmaker’s Arab guests in Nazim’s Achar Salaar village.
