Strategic civil-military consultation: PILDAT calls for NSC institutionalisation as regular forum

ISLAMABAD: PILDAT called for the institutionalisation of 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.

The NSC’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. 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.

As the second year of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s term commenced on March 5, 2025, PILDAT reviewed the performance and effectiveness of the NSC during this period.

In its annual review of the NSC released on Wednesday, 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, said the PLDAT review.

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.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026