ISLAMABAD – The civil and military leadership decided on Friday to pace the operation against terrorists in the country.
They reached a decision during a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) which was chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) Gen Sahir Shamshad Miraz, heads of armed forces, federal ministers for defence, finance and information and senior military leadership attended the meeting.
Director General of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum briefed the participants of the meeting about the ongoing operations against terrorism and overall security situation of the country.
Reports said the NSC reiterated that the zero-tolerance policy will be adopted against terrorists for lasting peace in the country.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also briefed the NSC on the economic situation of the country as Pakistan is scrambling to revive the loan programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The NSC meeting was convened amidst the country’s economic and political turmoil, which was compounded by the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) petition. The ruling coalition firmly opposed the verdict, which they believe is a minority ruling of 3-2 and should not be implemented.
The meeting took place a day after the National Assembly passed a resolution rejecting the three-member Supreme Court bench’s “minority” verdict on the Punjab elections and made it binding on PM Shehbaz and his cabinet not to implement the decision.
The resolution was moved by Balochistan Awami Party lawmaker Khalid Magsi and approved by a majority of lawmakers.
The resolution noted that the National Assembly had previously called on the Supreme Court to avoid “interfering” in political matters and expressed concerns over the Supreme Court’s circular setting aside the verdict of a three-member bench on suo motu cases.
It also raised alarms over the formation of a controversial bench and its decision to quickly close the case that prompted Justice Qazi Faez Isa to suspend “suo motu” hearings.
