Need to consolidate security gains: Minister

islamabad — Minister for Interior, Ahsan Iqbal has said roadmap to formulate National Internal Security Policy is centered on goals defined in vision 2025 that envisage sharing peace, stability and development.

Chairing a high-level meeting here on formulation of National Internal Security Policy (NISP) 2018-2023, he said present government has steered the country towards progress by enabling peace and stability.

“We need to take practical steps now in order to consolidate gains made and improve our capabilities for new and future threats to our peace and security,” he said.

The meeting was attended by officials from Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), Counter Terrorism Force, Provincial Home Ministries, Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the Ministry of Interior.

The participants approved detailed roadmap for policy formulation process that includes three rounds of consultation sessions involving key stakeholders and a national conference on internal security. This represents a move towards evidence-based policymaking in order to design policy interventions that deal with not only symptoms but also root-causes of security issues.

Ahsan Iqbal said, “political stability plays vital role for development which requires avoiding conflicts in all forms and manifestations. National security has become a broad subject. The nature of threats is changing with technological revolution.

He said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has changed geo-political equilibrium in region due to which new geopolitical pressures are developing on Pakistan.

“We must develop a comprehensive approach with the ownership of all stakeholders to succeed in implementation,” the minister said and stressed that youth in Pakistan constitutes a major part of population and is an asset for the country.

“It is our priority to mobilise youth towards peace and stability by providing them with enabling environment,” he added. — APP