Terror talks: ‘Government and army should be on the same page’

SAFMA holds seminar on Cabinet Committee on National Security.

LAHORE:

The South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) on Saturday held a seminar on the Cabinet Committee on National Security here on Saturday.

Analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi said, “In establishing the cabinet committee, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has tried to establish common ground between the civilian government and the Army.”

He said previously, National Security Councils were set up and dismantled by military rulers. “In the past army chiefs, foreign secretaries and other non-members were only invited to attend meetings of the cabinet committee. Since they were not members, they could only make recommendations. They wanted decision-making power,” he said.

Rizvi said it did not matter whether the government formed a national security council or a cabinet committee. He said the important thing was tangible results and implementation of policies.

Khalid Mahmood, a former ambassador, said Pakistan had had a troubled civil-military relationship due to which a comprehensive policy on national security had never been evolved. SAFMA’s Secretary General Imtiaz Alam said all intelligence agencies, security agencies and think tanks must be under the control of the civilian government instead of the military.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2013.