Civil and military leaders endorse Fata’s merger with K-P

NSC directs concerned ministries to work out merger’s constitutional, legal, administrative modalities

ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the top civil and military leaders on Saturday put their weight behind merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and directed the relevant ministries to take steps in this regard.

“[After] weighing all the pros and cons in detail, the committee endorsed that Fata shall be merged with K-P along with the introduction of the administrative and judicial institutional structures and laws of K-P,” said a declaration issued after the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting that lasted for five hours.

Presided over by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and attended by top civil and military leaders -- including chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, three services chiefs, federal ministers and military spymasters -- this was the second NSC huddle held in the ongoing week.



According to the declaration, the NSC “directed the ministries concerned to work out constitutional, legal and administrative modalities for the merger in consultation with all parties in parliament”.

The committee also endorsed the provision of additional well-monitored development funds for the Fata region during the next ten years, with the stipulation that those funds would not be re-appropriated to any other area of K-P.

“The NSC deliberated the question of merger of Fata with the province of K-P. The prime minister apprised the committee that his consultations on the issue with the leaders of other political parties in parliament had reflected a broad consensus on merging Fata with K-P,” the declaration said.

Contrary to the media hype that the NSC was held to take stock of Indian forces recent aggression along the Working Boundary to target civilians on Pakistani side, the NSC declaration lacked any significant mention of the issue.

It also lacked any specific mention of the PM Abbasi’s participation in the 7th Extraordinary Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit held in Turkey on Friday over rising brutalities of Israeli forces on Palestinians.

The NSC declaration, however, did express “satisfaction on the principled stand taken by Pakistan on Kashmir and Palestinian issues, and its articulation at various world forums”.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefed the committee on the regional and global security situation. The committee resolved that Pakistan will continue to play its role for peace and security in the region and beyond,” said the statement.

It said Sartaj Aziz, who heads the Fata reforms panel, and the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) briefed the NSC on Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and G-B reform proposals.

The committee reviewed those proposals from the perspective of their conformity with the aspirations of the people of AJK and G-B.

“After detailed deliberations, a consensus was reached on the devolution of greater administrative authority and financial powers to the governments of AJK and G-B; retention of the AJK and G-B Councils as advisory bodies; and the grant of a five-year tax holiday to G-B so as to create adequate incentives for the development of the region and bring it at par with other areas of Pakistan.”

The interior ministry presented details of the measures it had formulated to liberalise the visa regime, in particular for tourists and businesspersons. Reviewing those proposals, the NSC instructed the ministry to further refine its proposals and submit them for consideration in its next meeting.



Official sources said the meeting also discussed the implementation status of the decisions taken in the previous NSC huddles regarding blockade of terror-financing, tracking banned organisations -- including sectarian outfits, exchange of relevant information between security agencies against terrorist organisations --and decided to expedite the implementation measures through different steps.

Earlier on Monday, the NSC took stock of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s controversial interview with Daily Dawn in which he allegedly implied to suggest Pakistan’s involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The meeting had “unanimously rejected the allegations and condemned the fallacious assertions”.

The huddle had unanimously termed Sharif’s statement as incorrect and misleading.

“It is very unfortunate that the opinion arising out of either misconceptions or grievances is being presented in disregard of the concrete facts and realities,” it had noted.