July 31: The PILDAT Dialogue Group on Civil-Military Relations pays rich tribute to the martyrs of the Armed Forces, the Law Enforcement Agencies and of the Police who laid down their lives protecting the borders and writ of the State.

The Group has urged the elected Government to demonstrate leadership on the national, political, security and foreign affairs of the country with renewed vigour.

The Group believed that Pakistan is in a de-facto state of internal war as well as facing critical threats on the Line of Control.

While recognizing the courage and the determination with which the Armed Forces are conducting the Operation Zarb-e-Azb, the Group stressed that the civilian, democratically-elected leadership of Pakistan, in Government and in all parties represented in Parliament, should demonstrate ownership, in words, and through oversight of the process.

Political parties need to invest more intellectual resources in research and formulation of security, defence and foreign policy options.

Noting the enhanced negative posturing and continuous animosity displayed by India towards Pakistan, the Group underscored the need for cohesive civil-military strategy for timely and effective response to deal with the situation.

Lamenting the underuse of the other-wise critical forum of consultation on national security, the Group asked the Government to fully utilise the National Security Committee. The Committee has only met 4 times since its formation in 2013. The Group also stated that the decision-making role of the National Security Committee be revised to become a consultative forum, in line with the practice of similar forums in other countries. The Government should hold regular, and at least bi-monthly meetings of the NSC, the Group advised.

The Group asked the elected Government to appoint full-time Federal Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs who should fulfil the responsibility of robust articulation and representation of State interests and Government policies in these two important spheres.

The Group reviewed the proactive role played by the Provincial Apex Committees, formed after the adoption of the National Action Plan (NAP). The Group called on the Federal and Provincial Governments to notify the remit, and Terms of Reference of these Apex Committees.

Parliamentary Committees dealing with Defence and National Security should also devote intellectual resources to conduct periodic review and oversight of the implementation of the National Action Plan.

On matters of national security requiring media briefings, a system of joint briefings by the Federal Ministry of Information, Federal Ministry of Interior and Federal Ministry of Defence should be devised.

The Group believed that valuable lessons gained in Swat and FATA should not be disregarded requiring civilian control and administration in the regions. Considering that it has almost been 6 years since the Pakistan Army cleansed Swat of militants, the elected Government should make arrangements to provide effective civilian administration not only in Swat, but also in FATA.

Following members attended the meeting of PILDAT’s Dialogue Group on Civil-Military relations on July 29, 2015:

1. Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Athar Abbas
   Former Director General, Inter-Services Public Relations

2. Mr. Omar Khan Afridi
   Former Chief Secretary, NWFP

3. Air Vice Marshall (Retd.) Shahzad Chaudhary

4. Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Moinuddin Haider
   Former Federal Minister for Interior; Former Governor, Sindh

5. Mr. Shahid Hamid
   Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan; Former Governor, Punjab

6. Mr. Javed Jabbar
   Former Senator; Former Federal Minister for Information and Media Development

7. Ms. Aasiya Riaz
   Joint Director, PILDAT
   

8. Ambassador (Retd.) Shahid Malik
   Former High Commissioner of Pakistan to India
   

9. Mr. Saleem Safi
   Senior Journalist; Anchor Programme Jirga, Geo Television
   

10. Mr. Mujib-ur-Rehman Shami
    Editor-in-Chief, Daily Pakistan