NSA lauds public debate on security policy

Islamabad : National Security Adviser Dr. Moeed Yusuf has said that economic security is the core of national security.

Dr. Moeed was speaking at an event to discuss the recently unveiled National Security Policy (NSP) at the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) here. Dr. Moeed termed the NSP as an overarching policy document about the policy direction with regard to national security. In that context, he observed that the policy prioritised the security of its citizens for ensuring national security. He added that if the inflow of resources was lower than their outflow, an average citizen of the country could not be secured.

The focus of the NSP, according to the National Security Adviser, therefore, was on increasing the national resource pie and taking the discussion away from the guns versus butter debate.

He maintained that ensuring the economic security of the country was only possible through leveraging Pakistan’s geo-economic location for trade connectivity and evolving true development partnerships with other countries of the world instead of looking for economic assistance. He admitted that the NSP had set high goals in a difficult regional security environment in which both of its western neighbours were internationally sanctioned while the eastern neighbour was unwilling to meaningfully engage. He added, however, that it was precisely the point of any policy to find a way out of any existing national and international constraints.

Responding to the criticism about the NSP being unclear on its implementation plan, Dr. Yusuf shared that the implementation of the plan of the NSP was in the classified part of the document. The National Security Adviser appreciated the public debate on the NSP but urged everyone to be constructive in their criticism with an aim to improve the policy.

Speaking on the occasion, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Defence Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said that the NSP had provided a conceptual framework for the direction of the national security in days and years to come. He added that greater clarity on the policy, its political ownership through the Parliament, and its continuity could improve the chances of its implementation. Citing the examples of Pakistan’s nuclear policy and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, he highlighted the importance of continuity of policies for their success under various governments.