Performance of the

National Security
Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

Pakistan Institute of Legislative

Development And Transparency
Performance of the
National Security
Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

Pakistan Institute of Legislative

Development And Transparency
PILDAT is an independent, non-partisan and not-for-profit indigenous research and training institution with the
mission to strengthen democracy and democratic institutions in Pakistan.

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Published: September 2022

ISBN: 978-969-558-781-2

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Pakistan Institute of Legislative

Development And Transparency

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Lahore Office: P. O. Box 11098, L.C.C.H.S, Postal Code: 54792, Lahore, Pakistan
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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

CONTENTS
Preface 05

Executive Summary 07

A Brief Overview of the NSC 15

Meeting of the National Security Committee 16

Proposed Reforms 20

List of Figures

Figure 1: Average NSC Meetings per Year by Successive PMs 07

Figure 2: One-on-One Meetings between PM and COAS 09
Figure 3: Interactions between PM and COAS 09
Figure 4: PM-COAS Interactions in the presence of Defence Minister 10
Figure 5: Average Federal Cabinet Meetings by Successive Prime Ministers per Year 13
 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

PREFACE
PREFACE

PILDAT has been regularly carrying out annual assessment of the performance of the National Security Committee
(NSC) and earlier forums dealing with national security consultation such as the Defence Committee of the Cabinet.
Each year, we have chosen performance period based on the date of oath of office of Prime Minister. Our earlier reports
since 2018 have been based on the annual period after the oath of Prime Minister Imran Khan on August 18, 2018. This
year, however, Pakistan has seen change of Prime Ministers as Mr. Imran Khan was voted out through a vote of no
confidence on April 10, 2022, with 8 months spent in the office, and the subsequent oath by Prime Minister Mr.
Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on April 11, 2022. Our annual report, therefore, is still covering the period from August 18,
2021 to August 17, 2022 but is looking at the working of the NSC under two Prime Ministers this year.

The report is based on publicly-available data and reports in the media regarding the meetings of the NSC during the
year.

Disclaimer
PILDAT team has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the contents of this report and do not accept responsibility
for any omission and error, as it is not deliberate.

September 2022
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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

EXECUTIVE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SUMMARY
The unfortunate trend of not convening NSC meetings has continued this year as only five (5) meetings of the National
Security Committee were held between August 2021 to August 2022.

Four (4) of these meetings were convened by Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan convened and only one (1) meeting was
convened by incoming Prime Minister Mr. Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. The lone NSC meeting convened by Prime
Minister Sharif 1 was also just a continuation of the previous NSC meeting where the new federal government wished to
have the NSC reiterate that the vote of confidence against Mr. Imran Khan was not due to a foreign conspiracy as was
alleged by Mr. Imran Khan.

Another practice that did not change was holding NSC meetings only in the face of crisis-like situations. Of the 4
meetings convened by Prime Minister Imran Khan during the year, one was held to discuss aftermath of US withdrawal
from Afghanistan.2 The second meeting was held to discuss talks with Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to end its
march towards Islamabad.3 The latest NSC meeting was convened by Prime Minister Imran Khan while facing vote of
no confidence and was held to discuss alleged US conspiracy to oust him and sending of diplomatic demarche.4 Only one
of these 4 meetings was held to approve National Security Policy 2022-2026.5

During 3 years and 8 months in office, Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan convened a total of twelve (12) meetings. In his
first year in office, he convened and chaired six (6) NSC meetings, followed by holding only one (1) meeting a year in
second and third years in office and four (4) in the fourth year. For the sake of comparison, during the same period (June
2013-January 2017), Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had held only six (6) meetings.

Of the three successive Prime Ministers who have convened and chaired the meetings of the NSC formed in 2013, the
average number of NSC meetings held per year by each is highest in the case of Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi at 17
meetings on average per year. The average NSC meetings held by Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan in 3 years and 8
months were 3.25 meetings per year. His average number of NSC meetings held per year, therefore, is slightly above the
lowest average of 2.16 in the case of Mr. Nawaz Sharif under whose tenure the NSC was first formed.

Figure 1: Average NSC Meetings per Year by Successive Pms

Average NSC Meetings per Year by

Average Number of NSC Meetings/Year

Succesive Prime Ministers Pakistan Institute of Legislative

52 Development And Transparency

39

26
16.8
13

2.16 3.27
0

Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Mr. Imran Khan
1. Baqir Sajjad Sayed, “NSC reiterates PTI govt not ousted through foreign plot,” Dawn online, April 23, 2022, accessed September 14, 2022.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1686368/nsc-reiterates-pti-govt-not-ousted-through-foreign-plot.
2. “34th National Security Committee Meeting,” PMO online, October 08, 2021, accessed September 14, 2022.
https://pmo.gov.pk/press_release_detailes.php?pr_id=3762.
3. Iftikhar A. Khan, “TLP warned against further breach of law,” Dawn online, October 30, 2021, accessed September 14, 2022.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1654817/tlp-warned-against-further-breach-of-law.
4. Baqir Sajjad Syed, “Strong reply to be delivered to US, says NSC,” Dawn online, April 01, 2022, accessed September 14, 2022.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1682833/strong-reply-to-be-delivered-to-us-says-nsc.
5. Baqir Sajjad Syed, “Security policy sees economy as pivotal to stability,” Dawn online, December 28, 2021, accessed September 14, 2022.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1666227.
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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

The central concept behind the creation of the NSC has been to institutionalise decision-making on national security
issues in Pakistan. As is the global practice, defence forces have a vital input in certain areas of national security and must
be consulted regularly in an institutionalised manner by the elected governments. The NSC was formed, along with a
dedicated secretariat of National Security Division (NSD), to fill the huge void that existed in our policy-making.
Earlier, although cabinet committee on defence had existed, perspectives of the security sector were delivered through
un-institutionalised and one-on-one interactions between elected premiers and successive military commanders. As
Pakistan has continued to face myriad security challenges and is often called a security state, forum of the NSC was
especially crucial in Pakistan to formalise irregular and personalised interactions into formal and regular presentation of
policy advice and its consideration for national decision-making.

National Security Council in our neighbouring India was formed in 1998 by Prime Minister Vajpayee's government
against the backdrop of the nuclear explosions in May 1998. The NSC in India oversees political, economic, energy and
security issues of strategic concerns. The NSC in India has a three-tier structure and military has no representation at the
highest level of the NSC. 6

In United States, counterpart of our National Security Committee, the National Security Council, has existed since July
1947 to advise and assist US Presidents on national security and foreign policy matters. It is defined as US President's
“principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with senior advisors and cabinet
officials.” 7

Israel, a security state, has had a functioning National Security Council since March 1999 as an arm of the Prime
Minister's Office and serves as a coordinating, integrative, deliberative and supervisory body on matters of national
policy.8 It exists as a staff forum for the Prime Minister and the Government on national security. 9

Convinced that other forums of consultations on national security did not fully meet the requirements, United Kingdom
formed its own National Security Council as recently as May 2010 under Prime Minister David Cameron. The UK NSC
is the main forum for collective discussion of the UK Government's objectives for national security. 10

Each of these and similar national forums on national security consultation around the world meet on the weekly basis.
The NSC in Pakistan was formed complete with a secretariat in 2013 to meet on a weekly basis. Despite facing a host of
security issues and a wide gulf between the policy positions of the military and elected civilian governments, weekly or
even quarterly meetings of the NSC have not been convened since 2013.

COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa met Prime Minister, Mr. Imran Khan on February 14, 2022

Instead, civilian elected Prime Ministers have not resisted the temptation to manage relations through personal
interactions.
6. Hasan-Askari Rizvi, “National Security Council,” PILDAT Discussion Paper, April 2012, accessed September 14, 2022,
http://pildat.ipower.com/Publications/publication/CMR/NaionalSecurityCouncil-debateonInstitutionsandprocessesfordecisionmakingonsecurityissues.pdf.
7. “National Security Council,” The Whitehouse, accessed September 14, 2022. https://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/.
8. “Israel Executive Branch: National Security Council,” Jewish Virtual Library, accessed September 10, 2022, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/israel-national-
security-council.
9. “The National Security Council,” Prime Minister's Office, accessed September 10, 2022, https://www.gov.il/en/departments/about/about_pm_office.
10. Hasan-Askari Rizvi, “National Security Council,” PILDAT Discussion Paper, April 2012, accessed September 14, 2022,
http://pildat.ipower.com/Publications/publication/CMR/NaionalSecurityCouncil-debateonInstitutionsandprocessesfordecisionmakingonsecurityissues.pdf.

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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

Figure 2: One-on-One Meetings between PM and COAS

One-on-One Meetings between PM Imran Khan-COAS

in 3 Years and 8 Months
Pakistan Institute of Legislative
(August 18, 2018 - April 9, 2022) Development And Transparency
100

90
Number of Meetings

80

70

60

50

40

30

20 15
10
10
5 2
0
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

While only 4 meetings of the NSC were convened by Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan in the 8 months he was in office
during the 4th year, he held 10 one-on-one meetings with Chief of the Army Staff during this time. Even Defence
Minister, civilian boss of the Defence sector, was not present at those meetings. During these 8 months, there were also
18 Joint interactions between Prime Minister, Mr. Imran Khan and COAS. Out of these total 28 interactions Mr. Pervaiz
Khattak, Defence Minister was present in 8 meetings (28.57%). In his entire tenure of 3 years and 8 months when he
only convened 12 meetings of the NSC, he held 32 one-on-one meetings with the Army Chief without the presence of
Defence Minister. He also held 104 joint interactions with Army Chief and the Defence Minister was present in only 26
(19.12%) meetings out of 136 meetings.

Figure 3: Interactions between PM and COAS

PM Imran Khan-COAS Interactions in

3 Years and 8 Months
Pakistan Institute of Legislative
(August 18,2018 - April 9, 2022) Development And Transparency
100

90
Number of Interactions

80

70

60

50
41
40

30 24
21 18
20

10

0
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

COAS Bajwa called on Prime Minister, Mr. Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on April 19, 2022

COAS Bajwa met Prime Minister, Mr. Imran Khan on January 26, 2022

The only Prime Minister who regularly convened NSC meetings and held 14 meetings in his 10 months of premiership
is Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
Figure 4: PM-COAS Interactions in the presence of Defence Minister

PM Imran Khan-COAS Interactions in the presence

of Defence Minister in 3 Years and 8 Months Pakistan Institute of Legislative
(August 18, 2018 - April 9, 2022) Development And Transparency
100
Number of Interactions

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
Total PM Imran Khan-COAS Interaction Presence of Defence Minister

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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

Mr. Nawaz Sharif, under whose tenure as Prime Minister NSC was formed in 2013, only held 9 meetings of the NSC in
his 4 years and 2 months as Prime Minister. It is also Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who changed the status of the NSC
from a consultative to a decision-making body. Since constitutionally, it is only the federal cabinet with powers of
executive decision-making, this was an odd and perhaps unconstitutional choice as the NSC also includes non-cabinet
members.

COAS Bajwa called on former Prime Minister, Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on August 8, 2017

Now compare this with meetings and interactions between Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff. During the 4-year
and 2 months period, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met COAS Raheel Sharif 106 times and COAS Bajwa 13 times while
only 9 meetings of the NSC were held under his tenure.

Similarly, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi met COAS Bajwa 26 times while 14 NSC meetings were held under
his tenure.

COAS Bajwa met with Former Prime Minister, Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on November 26,
2016

It needs to be noted that out of the total 119 interactions between Prime Minister Sharif and the two Chiefs of Army Staff,
35 (29.41%) of these meetings were one-on-one interactions while Federal Minister for Defence was present in only 34
(28.57%) of these meetings.

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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

COAS General (Retired) Raheel Sharif with former Prime Minister, Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif
on August 4, 2016

Let's compare the requirement to hold weekly NSC meetings to the weekly Federal Cabinet meetings. According to Rule
20 of Government of Pakistan Rules of Business, a weekly cabinet meeting should be held which translates into about 52
meetings per year. In the 8 months in office during 4th year (August 18, 2021-April 9, 2022), Prime Minister Mr. Imran
Khan convened only 25 meetings of Federal Cabinet in 31 weeks. He held 46 meetings respectively both in third and
second year while during his first year in office he convened and chaired 52 meetings of the Federal Cabinet. This has
brought down average yearly federal cabinet meetings convened by him to be 46 from 48 during the third year. On the
other hand, Mr. Shehbaz Sharif convened and chaired 17 meetings during its four months tenure (April 11, August 17,
2022) which comprises 18 weeks; one Federal Cabinet meeting is less than the actual requirement.

Similarly, the average number of federal cabinet meetings per year were 54 during Mr. Abbasi's tenure of 10 months,
however only 44 meetings were required to meet as per rule while the lowest average was observed during Mr.
Muhammad Nawaz Sharif's tenure. i.e., 8 meetings per year. However, the yearly requirement of federal cabinet
meetings is 52.

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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

Figure 5: Average Federal Cabinet Meetings by Successive Prime Ministers per Year

Average Federal Cabinet Meetings per Year by

Succesive Prime Ministers Pakistan Institute of Legislative
Development And Transparency

As of April 9, 2022
54
52
46
39
32
26 27

13
8
0

Mr. Yousuf Raza Raja Pervaiz Mr. Muhammad Mr. Shahid Mr. Imran
Gillani Ashraf Nawaz Sharif Khaqan Abbasi Khan

NSC is an extremely important forum of consultation on national security issues. Dormancy of NSC shows how little
attention is placed by successive Prime Ministers on institutionalising consultation between elected leadership and the
military on national security issues. The chasm between policy choices of elected leadership and military is at the heart
of Pakistan's continuing crisis of democratic governance. In fact NSC is an ideal forum through which a regular dialogue
and discourse should be initiated to address long-term strategic issues of civil-military relations. The NSC should remain
a consultative forum and meet on weekly basis. Its structure, as envisaged in 2013, should be completed by creating a
Planning Committee.

Given the crucial nature of the forum of the NSC, it is surprising that neither Parliament as a whole, nor its relevant
committees have questioned non-utilisation of the NSC and its near-dormancy term after term of successive premiers.

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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

Brief Overview of the NSC
In August 2013, the PML-N government under Prime
Minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif reconstituted the existing
Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) and notified
a Cabinet Committee on National Security (CCNS)11
to focus on national security issues.12 In a welcome
development, a new National Security Division (NSD)
was created to serve as the secretariat of the NSC.
Shortly after, the forum was notified as a 'principal
decision-making body on national security'13 instead of
an advisory body and inducted new members including
three Services Chiefs and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of
Staff Committee (CJCSC).
The change into a decision-making body appeared to
encroach upon the powers of the Federal Government
consisting of Prime Minister and the Federal Ministers
as defined under Article 90 of the Constitution. It was
also at odds with global practice of such forums that are
only advisory in nature and decision-making authority
vests in elected governments. This was further
compounded by induction of Services Chiefs and
Chairman JCSC who are not constitutionally members
of the cabinet and, therefore, not authorised for
decision-making. The induction as members was also
unprecedented as Services Chiefs and Chairman JCSC
only joined meetings of Defence Committee of the
Cabinet as non-members of the DCC and by special
invitation.14
The National Security Division was charged with the
responsibilities to convene meetings of the NSC and
collect, coordinate and collate proposals and input from
all relevant Ministries and organisations for the
consideration of the NSC. Among other functions, the
NSD was the line ministry on national security and
responsible to brief the Parliament and its
Committees.15
National Security Advisors
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Mr. Sartaj Aziz
as his National Security Advisor (NSA) in June 2013
and he served in this position until October 2015. He
was succeeded by Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Nasser Khan Janjua
who served as NSA from October 2015 to June 2018.
Mr. Abdullah Hussain Haroon was appointed NSA to
the caretaker government on June 5, 2018 but was
replaced on June 27, 2018 by caretaker Federal
Minister of National Security, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Khalid
Naeem Lodhi until August 2018. The position was kept
vacant by Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan from August
to December 2018 when he appointed Dr. Moeed W.
Yusuf as Special Advisor to PM on National Security
Division and Strategic Policy Planning. Dr. Yusuf
served in the post until May 2021 when his portfolio
was changed to NSA and served as NSA until April
2022. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has not appointed
a National Security Advisor or a Minister overseeing
the National Security Division since April 2022.16

Despite forming the NSC and making extraordinary

changes in its status, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did
not use the forum to institutionalise consultation and
decisions on national security through the NSC.
Instead, he kept the forum dormant. He chose to take
key national security decisions in informal huddles and
through one-on-one meetings with Chief of Army Staff
at the time and only convened 9 NSC meetings in 50
months in office. It was only Prime Minister Shahid
Khaqan Abbasi who changed the practice and regularly
convened NSC meetings on important issues thereby
holding 14 meetings of the NSC during his 10 months
in office.

11. PILDAT (2018) Performance of the National Security Committee: 2013-2018. Available at: https://pildat.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/04/PerformanceoftheNationalSecurityCommittee20132018.pdf?Submit=Download (Accessed 18 August 18, 2020)
12. Dawn (2013) DCC to be reconstituted as Committee on National Security. Available at: https://www.dawn.com/news/1037613 (Accessed 25
September 2019).
13. A notification issued by the National Security Division (Secretariat of the National Security Committee), Cabinet Division on April 11, 2014
declared the National Security Committee to be 'principal decision-making body on national security.'
14. Aziz, S. “Nawaz Sharif's Third Term as Prime Minister 2013-17,” Between Dreams and Realities: Some Milestones in Pakistan's History
(Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2020), pp 376.
15. Memorandum on Allocation of Functions to the National Security Division, April 09, 2014, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of Pakistan.
16. “Ministers – Advisers – Special Assistants to PM,” office of the National Security Advisor, accessed September 12, 2022,
https://onsa.gov.pk/About/Legacy.
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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

Meeting of the National Security NSC Meeting October 29, 2021

Committee
August 18, 2021 – August 17, 2022
NSC Meeting October 8, 2021
In the backdrop of the withdrawal of US Armed Forces
from Afghanistan on August 30, 2021, NSC meeting
chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on October 08,
2021 was convened after a gap of two (2) months as
earlier NSC meeting was held in August.
According to the PMO, Prime Minister was briefed on
the regional security situation including Afghanistan.
Reiterating Pakistan's commitment to a peaceful, stable
and sovereign Afghanistan, the NSC highlighted with
concern humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and
need for international support. Prime Minister
expressed satisfaction on Pakistan's support to
international evacuation effort from Afghanistan. He
also directed the establishment of a dedicated cell to
synergize various streams of efforts on Afghanistan
across the government, including international
coordination for humanitarian assistance and effective
border management to prevent any negative spill over
into Pakistan.17
The Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) mounted
pressure on the government through violent protests
demanding release of its leader and expulsion of
ambassador of France from the country. On October 22,
the TLP started a long march to Islamabad and in the
violent protests, seven (7) police officials were
martyred and many injured.
The NSC was convened on October 29, 2021 in this
backdrop to decide whether or not the government
should engage with the TLP in negotiations. The NSC
meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan gave a
go-ahead to the government to initiate talks with the
TLP while resolving not to tolerate any further breach
of law by the proscribed TLP.18
According to the statement from PMO, the NSC
“unanimously resolved to guard its sovereignty from
all internal and external threats and to not allow TLP to
challenge the writ of the state in any way. Participants
endorsed the government's decision to negotiate with
the group only within the bounds of law, without
offering leniency for any crimes committed by TLP
operatives. Endorsing the view of the Committee, the
Prime Minister instructed that all measures and

Prime Minister Imran Khan chairing NSC meeting of October 8, 2021

17. “34th National Security Committee Meeting,” PMO online, October 08, 2021, accessed September 14, 2022.
https://pmo.gov.pk/press_release_detailes.php?pr_id=3762.
18. Iftikhar A. Khan, “TLP warned against further breach of law,” Dawn online, October 30, 2021, accessed September 14, 2022.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1654817/tlp-warned-against-further-breach-of-law.

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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

actions necessary to enforce the law and protect the
interests of the state and public shall be ensured.”19
However, on October 30, Mufti Munib met with Army
Chief Gen. Bajwa alongside businessman Aqeel Karim
Dhedy and Mr. Muhammad Bashir Farooqi, chair of the
Saylani Welfare Trust, to finalise details of the
agreement with the TLP. On October 31, government
announced that it had reached an 'agreement' with the
TLP in order to end the deadlock and consequentially
their protest. The press conference was addressed by
Mufti Munib who termed the agreement as a victory of
Islam, Pakistan, patriotism and protection of human
lives. He was accompanied by PTI Senior Vice
Chairman, Parliamentary Leader of the party in the
National Assembly and Foreign Minister, Makhdoom
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Speaker National Assembly
Mr. Asad Qaiser and Minister of State for
Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Ali Mohammad Khan.20
However, on October 30, Mufti Munib met with Army
Chief Gen. Bajwa alongside businessman Aqeel Karim
Dhedy and Mr. Muhammad Bashir Farooqi, chair of the
Saylani Welfare Trust, to finalise details of the
agreement with the TLP. On October 31, government
announced that it had reached an 'agreement' with the
TLP in order to end the deadlock and consequentially
their protest. The press conference was addressed by
Mufti Munib who termed the agreement as a victory of
Islam, Pakistan, patriotism and protection of human
lives. He was accompanied by PTI Senior Vice
Chairman, Parliamentary Leader of the party in the
National Assembly and Foreign Minister, Makhdoom
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Speaker National Assembly
Mr. Asad Qaiser and Minister of State for
Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Ali Mohammad Khan.
NSC Meeting December 27, 2021
Convened after 3 months, the NSC met to approve what
the government termed as “Pakistan's first ever
National Security Policy 2022-2026.”
In what Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan termed as a
“historic moment,”21 Pakistan's first ever National
Security Policy (NSP) 2022-2026 was approved by the
NSC on December 27, 2021. It was announced that a
public version of the NSP will be 'released in due
course' after the policy is presented to the Federal
Cabinet for official adoption.22 The National Security
Policy was formally approved by the Federal Cabinet
on December 28, 2021. 23

PM chairing NSC meeting on October 29, 2021

19. “35th National Security Committee Meeting,” PMO online, October 29, 2021, accessed November 8, 2021,
https://pmo.gov.pk/press_release_detailes.php?pr_id=3823.
20. Amir Wasim, “Government, TLP ink deal to end impasse,” Dawn online, November 1, 2021, accessed November 2, 2021.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1655200.
21. Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO), Twitter, December 27, 2021, 5:24 pm, accessed December 28, 2021,
https://twitter.com/PakPMO/status/1475442508490543105.
22. Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO), Twitter, December 27, 2021, 5:24 pm, accessed December 28, 2021,
https://twitter.com/PakPMO/status/1475442513230114823.
23. “Cabinet approves Pakistan's first-ever national security policy: Moeed Yusuf,” The News online, December 28, 2021, accessed December 31,
2021, https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/920556-cabinet-approves-pakistans-first-ever-national-security-policy-moeed-yusuf.
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 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

The PMO noted that Prime Minister “instructed the
NSA to present an implementation progress report to
the NSC every month.” “Revitalization of the Planning
Committee and the expansion of NSC's Advisory Board
was also unanimously approved” by the NSC. 24
Despite setting the target of receiving monthly progress
on implementation of the NSP, no NSC meeting was
held for next 5 months.
A public version of the National Security Policy was
only unveiled on January 14 by Prime Minister Mr.
Imran Khan. The policy places economic stability as a
key component of national security.25 The policy has
distinct chapters on National Security Framework,
National Cohesion, Economic Future, Defence and
Territorial Integrity, Internal Security, Foreign Policy
and Human Security.
NSC Meeting March 31, 2022
The next NSC meeting was held five (5) months later
and was apparently only convened by Prime Minister
Imran Khan facing vote of no confidence to discuss
alleged US conspiracy to oust him and sending of
diplomatic demarche.26
Facing a no-confidence motion submitted by the joint
opposition in the National Assembly on March 8, Prime
Minister Mr. Imran Khan had publicly claimed only on
March 27 that opposition's move to oust him was
orchestrated through an international conspiracy and
that he has credible evidence of that in the shape of a
letter.27 The letter claimed by the PM to be the evidence
of foreign conspiracy against his elected government
was presented by the National Security Advisor before
the NSC meeting.
According to the PMO, the NSA briefed the Committee
on the 'formal communication of a senior official of a
foreign country to Pakistan's Ambassador in the said
country in a formal meeting, which was duly conveyed
by the Ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.'
The PMO also reported that the NSC expressed 'grave
concern' at the communication and termed the
language used by the foreign official as 'undiplomatic.'
Without sharing details of the country whose official
was quoted in the letter, the PMO stated that the NSC
considered the content of the communiqué to amount to
'blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan
by the country in question.' The NSC decided to issue a
'strong demarche to the country in question both in
Islamabad and in the country's capital through proper
channel in keeping with diplomatic norms.' The NSC

Prime Minister Imran Khan chairing NSC meeting held on December 27, 2021

24. “Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the 36th meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC),” PMO online, December 27, 2021, accessed
September 10, 2022. https://pmo.gov.pk/press_release_detailes.php?pr_id=3890.
25. Baqir Sajjad Syed, “Security policy places economy front and centre,” Dawn online, January 15, 2022, accessed February 3, 2022.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1669494.
26. Baqir Sajjad Syed, “Strong reply to be delivered to US, says NSC,” Dawn online, April 01, 2022, accessed September 14, 2022.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1682833/strong-reply-to-be-delivered-to-us-says-nsc.
27. Syed Irfan Raza, “'' PM unveils foreign plot against his govt ,” Dawn online, March 28, 2022, accessed April 11, 2022.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1682150/pm-unveils-foreign-plot-against-his-govt.
18
 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022

also “endorsed” the Federal Cabinet's decision to brief

the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.28

NSC Meeting April 22, 2022

Eleven (11) days after taking oath of office as Prime

Minister, Mr. Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif convened
NSC meeting on April 22, 2022.

Before being voted out through a vote of no confidence

on April 10, 2022, Prime Minister Imran Khan had
alleged that a foreign conspiracy was behind his ouster
with the involvement of the coalition parties in the
PDM.

The NSC meeting convened to have the NSC reiterate

that the vote of confidence against Mr. Imran Khan was
not due to a foreign conspiracy as was alleged by Mr.
Imran Khan.

Statement by the PMO after the meeting stated that “the

NSC, after reviewing the contents of the
communication, the assessments received, and the
conclusions presented by the security agencies,
concludes that there has been no foreign conspiracy.”
The statement, however, also added that the NSC also
endorsed “decisions of the last NSC meeting” where it
had termed said communique as a 'blatant interference
in the internal affairs of Pakistan by the country in
question' and had decided to issue a 'strong demarche to
the country in question both in Islamabad and in the
country's capital through proper channel in keeping
with diplomatic norms.' 29

Prime Minister Mr. Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chairing NSC Meeting on April 22, 2022

28. P r i m e M i n i s t e r ' s O ff i c e , P a k i s t a n ( @ P a k P M O ) , Tw i t t e r, M a r c h 3 1 , 2 0 2 2 , 7 : 1 2 p m , a c c e s s e d A p r i l 11 , 2 0 2 2 .
https://twitter.com/PakPMO/status/1509534141892554758.
29. Baqir Sajjad Sayed, “NSC reiterates PTI govt not ousted through foreign plot,” Dawn online, April 23, 2022, accessed September 14, 2022.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1686368/nsc-reiterates-pti-govt-not-ousted-through-foreign-plot.
19
 Performance of the National Security Committee
August 18, 2021 - August 17, 2022
Proposed Reforms
PILDAT believes that without effective and regular
utilisation of the NSC by successive federal
governments, decision-making on national security
will remain ad-hoc, reactive and informal and
personalised.
Pakistan is often referred to as a security state and our
complex national security issues require planned and
coordinated policy planning. On the one hand we
continue to experience crises of democratic and
political instability which have been brought on by the
establishment which insists on being the last arbiter on
national security decision-making in contradiction to
Constitutional scheme of governance. On the other
hand, our response to crises of national security and
regional and international relations remain far from
ideal.
The NSC was created as a well-thought-out solution to
address both these lingering critical issues. Not only it
was meant to provide a forum of consultation to all
stakeholders including the military in a coordinated and
institutionalised manner on national security policies, it
was envisaged that formalised consultation would help
bridge the gap in thinking of the military and elected
civilian governments and thus improve civil-military
relations in Pakistan.
A look at the past nine (9) years since the creation of the
NSC shows that none of the elected prime ministers
(with the possible exception of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi
whose term was very short anyway) has worked to
effectively utilise the forum. In fact, it appears that both
sides have almost wilfully pursued the same old
informal, ad-hoc, transient and personalised manner of
dealing with issues. As a result, NSC has remained
dormant and neither the quality nor the process of our
national decision making has improved and
institutionalised.
The reforms shared below are neither new nor proposed
for the first time. PILDAT has continued to advocate
that effective and regular utilisation of the NSC is a
critical need in Pakistan. As an indigenous think tank
dedicated to strengthening democracy and democratic
institutions, we reiterate the required reforms again:
30. “Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the 36th meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC),” PMO online, December 27, 2021, accessed
September 10, 2022. https://pmo.gov.pk/press_release_detailes.php?pr_id=3890.
31. The NSD Yearbook 2020-2021, NSD Online, accessed October 7, 2021, https://nsd.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Year-Book-2020-
21.pdf.
20
Regular Meetings
The NSC meetings must be held on a regular basis and
its rules of business should be changed, much like Rule
20 of Government of Pakistan Rules of Business, to
define a periodicity of weekly meetings.
Consultative and not a Decision-making Forum
The NSC should be a consultative and not a decision-
making body.
Strategic Dialogue on Civil-Military Relations
Periodic meetings of the NSC should be devoted to
discussion on long-term strategic issues of inter-
institutional relations.
Completing the NSC
In 2013, the original structure of the NSC was to have
two support institutions, a Planning Committee and an
Advisory Board critical to effective functioning of the
proposed national security system. These could not be
formulated due reportedly to military's reservations on
composition of the Planning Committee in 2013.
However nearly a decade later, these issues appear to
persist because as late as December 27, 2021, Prime
Minister is reported to have directed the NSA to
“revitalize Planning Committee” and expand the
Advisory Board.30
Without formation and effective functioning of these
two bodies, the NSD remains handicapped.
The NSD Yearbook 2020-2021, the latest public
document available, was silent about the activation of
the Planning Committee, it noted that “NSD has been
able to 'reactivate' the Advisory Board to ensure input
from partnering think tanks on relevant and vital issues
can be funnelled into policy input for premieres.”31
However, its expansion remains on hold.
 Pakistan Institute of Legislative
Development And Transparency

Islamabad Office: P. O. Box 278, F-8, Postal Code: 44220, Islamabad, Pakistan
Lahore Office: P. O. Box 11098, L.C.C.H.S, Postal Code: 54792, Lahore, Pakistan
E-mail: info@pildat.org | Website: www.pildat.org