Islamabad: Pakistan on Wednesday unveiled its first ever counter-terrorism policy after battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for more than a decade, announcing that every act of militant violence would be met with retaliation on their bases.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, presenting the draft, said the stalled dialogue with Pakistani Taliben would be resumed only after the end of terror activities by them.
“Befitting response shall be given to any act of terrorism,” he said referring to air strikes on militant hideouts this month in the northwestern region that have reportedly killed more than a hundred insurgents.
The minister said the decision to use air power to nab terrorists was consistent with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s repeated statement that dialogue and terrorism could not go side by side.
He said the prime minister had suspended talks with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) earier this month because terror attacks were not stopped.
The three-pronged national security policy, Nisar Khan said, consists of strategic and operational parts and a secret section.
The 342-member lower house of the parliament will start a debate on the draft on Monday.
Under the policy the National Counter Terrorism Authority will be made fully functional to deal with all the terror-related issues.
A rapid response force will initially be established in Islamabad with 500 personnel. It will be replicated in all the four provinces after consultation with the provincial governments.
This anti-terrorism force will be fully equipped to enable it to react rapidly to any terror incident.
Similarly‚ an internal security department will be established to enhance cooperation among armed forces, the minister said.
He said the policy had been formulated in a span of five months after consultations with all the segments of society and keeping in view the international models.
This policy is not a final word and parliamentarians’ input will be welcomed and viable suggestions will be incorporated, Nisar Khan said.
He expressed the confidence that we will rid the country of the wave of terror.
Prime Minister Sharif, who attended the assembly session, assured that all the parliamentary leaders would be invited for a meeting to discuss way forward and options to deal with the menace of terrorism.
Earlier, the leaders of the opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, said the government had not taken parliamentary leaders into confidence on the failed talks with the TTP.
Shah, who belongs to Pakistan People’s Party, said the government should hold an in-camera briefing for parliamentarians and take a clear-cut stand on tackling terrorism.
