National Security Committee (NSC): Another session for lamentation against India!!!!!!

The apex body for civil-military coordination on national security matters in Pakistan, The National Security Committee (NSC), chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, on September 29  vowed to defend Pakistan against all forms of external aggression, placing a particular emphasis on countering the “aggressive stance adopted by neighbouring India”.

The National Security Committee (NSC), expressed deep concern over repeated "ceasefire violations by India" along the Line of Control (LoC), which had resulted in the loss of several innocent lives.

The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Foreign Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Naval Chief Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman and senior civil and military officials.

The committee was briefed on the continued violations of the ceasefire by India, both at the LoC and the Working Boundary, where civilians were deliberately being targeted through constant shelling and firing.

According to release committee accused that in the current year, Indian forces have committed 873 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary, claiming the lives of more than 40 innocent civilians and injuring another 148, the meeting was told. The committee also condemned the violation of human rights in Jammu  Kashmir and deplored the use of excessive force against unarmed civilians.

Pakistan forcefully took up the issue of Jammu Kashmir and the human rights violations committed by India at the United Nations General Assembly, as well as the 36th session of Human Rights Council.

The committee also reviewed developments in the relationship with Afghanistan, as well as identifying common avenues for continued cooperation, especially border management and repatriation of refugees. The body reiterated its commitment to peace in Afghanistan through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process

Relations between the two traditional South Asian rivals have been quite tense this year. US President Donald Trump’s recent overtures towards India, seeking a greater role for it in Afghanistan, has worried policymakers in Islamabad.

The Pakistani leadership has already made it clear that the "US cannot blame Pakistan for its failures in Afghanistan".

About NSC….

The NSC is a principal forum that is mandated for considering national security and foreign policy matters with the senior national security advisers and Cabinet ministers. The idea and inception of National Security Council was first conceived in 1969 under the President Yahya Khan, its functions were to advise and assist the president and prime minister on national security and foreign policies, since then, however, this idea of this institution remains highly debatable and controversial in Pakistan's political science circles who argues that the NSC provides legal cover for expanding the role and influence of the military science circles in nation's public and political science affairs to subdue the popular democratic transitional process in the country.

The National Security Council was re-created by then-President and former General Pervez Musharraf in April 2004 under the National Security Council Act. Although, the NSC remains to as a statutory body, the National Security Council is not active since 2008, and the Defence Committee of the Cabinet is fulfilling the role and purpose of the NSC. The first National Security Adviser was Tariq Aziz who was appointed in 2004 and was preceded by Major-General (retired) Mahmud Durrani in 2008. Since Durrani's deposing by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in 2009, there has been no appointed new NSC adviser since then. The NSC was abandoned by the government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), with a unified confirmations from the Parliament, and its functions has been taken under control by the Defence Cabinet Committee as of 2009.

The council was revived under Nawaz Sharif, who presides over meetings of the council when there is an emergency, such as hostilities between India and Pakistan, or a chance to discuss events related to the insurgency.