PM Imran Khan appoints Moeed Yusuf as National Security Adviser

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed Dr. Moeed Yusuf as the National Security Adviser, elevating him from his original role as the Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Security and Strategic Policy Planning.

This notification was confirmed by a communique from the Cabinet Division, in which it was clarified that the designation will be equivalent to that of a Federal Minister.

Yusuf was originally granted the status of a Minister of State in December 2019, and was made the Chairman of the Strategic Policy Planning Cell under the National Security Division, after serving as the Associate Vice President at the Asia Center at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).

This cell was formed to introduce a series of research and data-driven policy interventions on national security concerns.

While it was speculated by Indian media outlets that the observance of a truce along the Line of Control between the two adversarial states was the result of backchannel diplomatic efforts, Yusuf denied such claims, stating that "This is baseless. No such talks have taken place between me and Mr. Ajit Doval [...] the welcome development on the LoC is a result of discussions through the established channel of DGMOs".

However, Yusuf's role in leading Pakistan's national security strategic planning efforts could potentially make an impact on the country's fraught relations with India and Afghanistan.

Yusuf holds a PhD in Political Science from Boston University, and was a Research Fellow at the Pardee School of Global Studies.