ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that nature of threats is changing with technological revolution, adding that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has changed geo-political equilibrium in the region due to which new geo-political pressures are developing on Pakistan.
In his address at a National Conference on Internal Security: Peace & Sustainable Development organized at Pakistan Planning and Management Institute (PPMI) in Islamabad, the minister said that political stability plays vital role for development which requires avoiding conflicts in all forms and manifestations.
Ahsan Iqbal said that national security has become a broad subject with social, political and economic dimensions gaining importance.
“We have to believe ourselves now and this will be the way we can move. We have brilliant minds who make good policies but our only and only problem is implementation which we need to address,” he said.
“We must develop a comprehensive approach with the ownership of all stakeholders to succeed in implementation.”
The interior minister also stressed that youth in Pakistan constitutes a major part of the population and is an asset for the country. He said that it is our priority to mobilize our youth towards peace and stability by providing them with enabling environment.
With regard to National Internal Security Policy (NISP) 2018-2023, the minister said that ownership and participation of the key government departments as well as that of the key state institutions and broader civil society is critical for its success and implementation.
Moreover, he said that basic tenets of the policy encapsulates the four key areas to improve peace and security viz: creating a shared vision, establishing rule of law, ensuring political stability and providing social justice.
The minister said that roadmap for formulation of NISP is centered on goals defined in vision 2025 that envisages a sharing peace, stability and development link which is key for progress. He said that new internal security policy framework is directed towards establishing a new paradigm for policy on security and peace and added a more empirical and evidence based approach focused on implementation of the goals should have been adopted.
“We have steered the Country towards progress by enabling peace. We have to take practical steps now to consolidate the gains made and improve our capabilities for new and future threats to our peace and security,” he said.
