Pakistan to formulate policies in light of the country’s interest: NSC

Vows to fight terrorism and extremism in interest of the people

ISLAMABAD: The National Security Committee on Tuesday agreed that Pakistan will continue to formulate policies in light of the country’s interest and will continue its fight against terrorism and extremism in the interest of Pakistan’s people.

The National Security Committee met for its 19th meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to review the current international and regional situation.

A statement issued after the meeting said, “The Committee agreed that Pakistan will continue its fight against terrorism and extremism in the interest of its people. Our policies will continue to be formulated and implemented in light of our national interests.”

The meeting was attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Interior, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the three Services Chiefs.

The NSC was briefed on the current international and regional situation particularly on relations with regional countries.

During the meeting, the foreign minister briefed the committee on his recent successful visit to Russia. He recalled the desire of the two countries to further strengthen bilateral relations in all areas.



The committee also agreed on the importance of recalibrating the foreign policy framework to bring more focus on the countries of the region. The statement said, “It was agreed to launch new initiatives to enhance economic partnerships with friendly countries in the region and beyond for a win-win cooperation.”

The committee reiterated the significance of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the benefits it brings to the development of Pakistan, the region and beyond. The participants agreed on further strengthening the CPEC cooperation as the flagship program of China’s One Belt and One Road initiative.

The NSC also reaffirmed Pakistan’s abiding interest in lasting peace in Afghanistan. It stressed the importance of peace among the Afghan people through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned national peace and reconciliation process.

The statement said, “The Committee underscored the need for consistent and continued engagement with Afghanistan.” The importance of effective border management as well as time bound repatriation of Afghan refugees to Afghanistan in a dignified manner was also emphasized during the meeting.

The committee also condemned the unprovoked Indian ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary (WB).



More than 400 ceasefire violations in 2018 alone had resulted in the martyrdom and injuries to scores of innocent civilians.

The NSC observed that through consistent ceasefire violations, the Indian government was trying to divert the international attention from blatant human rights violations in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. “India must give priority to peace,” the meeting concluded.