ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) has called for institutionalising the National Security Committee (NSC) as a regular forum for strategic civil-military consultation, with monthly meetings to proactively review domestic and international security developments.
As the second year of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s term commenced on March 5, 2025, Pildat reviewed the performance and effectiveness of Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) during this period. In its annual review of the NSC, Pildat noted that the national security division’s analytical, operational, and coordination capacities should be strengthened to ensure that high-level national security deliberations are supported by evidence-based analysis and long-term strategic planning.
The NSC is also entrusted with the responsibility to regularly update the National Security Policy every year but the policy, which was unveiled in 2022 and meant to cover the period of 2022-2026, has not been updated even once. It is also not clear whether the current government continues to own the policy formulated during PTI-led government.
“It is also critical to reaffirm the NSC as Pakistan’s principal platform for strategic national security decision-making and clearly delineate its role in relation to parallel committees to avoid duplication and enhance accountability,” it says.
Monthly meetings of forum suggested to review domestic, international security developments
Pildat has noted that while the committee was convened on three occasions during the year, its functioning remained largely episodic and reactive, triggered primarily by acute security crises. The April–June 2025 meetings, convened in response to the Pahalgam attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and subsequent cross-border escalation, underscored the NSC’s critical role in facilitating civil-military consultation and coordinated national responses.
The June 2025 meeting further demonstrated the NSC’s capacity to assess broader regional developments, including the Israeli military strikes on Iran, highlighting its potential as a platform for strategic deliberation beyond immediate bilateral crises. Pildat’s review indicates that the NSC’s overall use remained irregular. The committee continues to function primarily as a crisis-response mechanism rather than as a regular forum for continuous strategic assessment.
The second year of PM Shehbaz’s term reflects a national security architecture that remains structurally sound but operationally reactive. The NSC, Pakistan’s premier forum for civil-military consultation and strategic decision-making, was convened three times during the period from March 5, 2025, to March 4, 2026.
While these meetings demonstrated the committee’s continued relevance during acute security crises, the overall pattern of NSC activity remained episodic and largely reactive.
The period under review was marked by significant regional and global security developments. In April and May 2025, heightened tensions with India following the Pahalgam attack in IIOJK prompted two emergency NSC meetings. These sessions enabled coordinated response to Indian threat.
A subsequent meeting in June 2025 focused on broader regional developments, including Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, highlighting the NSC’s capacity to deliberate on complex international security issues.
Despite these high-profile meetings, the NSC’s functioning continues to reflect a crisis driven approach rather than a regular system of strategic consultation.
Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2026
