ISLAMABAD – The 23rd meeting of the National Security Committee was held inIslamabad today with Prime Minister Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the chair.
The meeting was attended by the Federal Ministers Ahsan Iqbal, KhurramDastgir Khan, Miftah Ismail, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff CommitteeGeneral Zubair Mahmood Hayat, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar JavedBajwa, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, Chief of AirStaff Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Director General ISI Lt GenNaveed Mukhtar and senior civil and military officials.
The National Security Committee expressed satisfaction on the principledstand taken by Pakistan on Kashmir and Palestine and its articulation atvarious world forums.
The Committee reviewed the Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistanreform proposals from the perspective of their conformity with theaspirations of the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.After detailed deliberations, a consensus was reached on: the devolution ofgreater administrative authority and financial powers to the AzadGovernment of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and the Government ofGilgit-Baltistan; retention of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir andGilgit-Baltistan Councils as advisory bodies; and the grant of a five-yeartax holiday to Gilgit-Baltistan so as to create adequate incentives for thedevelopment of the region and bring it at par with the other areas ofPakistan.
The National Security Committee deliberated the question of the merger ofthe Federally Administered Tribal Areas with the province of KhyberPakhtunkhwa. The Prime Minister briefed the Committee that hisconsultations on the issue with the leaders of other political parties inthe Parliament had reflected a broad consensus on the merger of FATA withKhyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Committee endorsed that FATA shall be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwaalong with the introduction of the administrative and judicialinstitutional structures and laws of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Committeedirected the concerned ministries to work out the constitutional, legal andadministrative modalities for the merger in consultation with all partiesin the Parliament. The Committee also endorsed the provision of additionalwell-monitored development funds for the FATA region during the next tenyears, with the stipulation that these funds would not be re-appropriatedto any other area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Ministry of Interior presented details of the measures it hadformulated to liberalize the visa regime, in particular for tourists andbusinesspersons. Reviewing these proposals, the National Security Committeeinstructed the Interior Ministry to further refine its proposals and submitthem for consideration in its next meeting.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefed the Committee on the regional andglobal security situation. The Committee resolved that Pakistan wouldcontinue to play its role for peace and security in the region and beyond.