ISLAMABAD - Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan says the country is ‘still in a state of war’ and they have readied a national security policy to meet the challenges, adding the world has deserted Pakistan in a ‘foreign imposed war’ despite its paying highest price for world security.
The 'Internal National Security Policy' will be placed before a special cabinet committee meeting on Monday for approval, the minister told reporters after addressing a pass-out ceremony of specialised training programme of assistant superintendents of police (ASPs).
The announcement about the much advertised national security policy of the PML-N led federal government comes after a wait of more than six months which, according to a senior official of the interior ministry, will have three components – Secret, Strategic and Operational.
Nisar said the government was taking practical steps to enhance the overall security and build capacity of the law-enforcement agencies. He said one-year timeframe has been proposed for implementation of the security policy, under which Rs28 billion would be spent to strengthen law-enforcement agencies.
To a question about the government's peace talks with militants, the minister said government would welcome and support political leaders' role in talks with Taliban. He said the government was taking this initiative as mandated by the All Parties Conference (APC) and it would take the parliament into confidence on the process and progress of the initiative at some stage.
The government has given a sense of direction and its policies were meant for betterment of people and in the larger interest of the nation, the minister said. He said that a foreign war was imposed on Pakistan, due to wrong policies of the previous governments in the past decade, which made the country an unsafe place.
Earlier, speaking at the ceremony of passing out parade of police officers, he hoped that the officers would carry forward their distinction while performing duties in service of the state. He said the country was going through a critical phase and they should be conscious of the serious challenges facing the country.
The minister said the police officers should be expected to go beyond their call of duty as the country was still in a state of war. "It is not an open and transparent war. It is war with an enemy which is playing hide and seek with the people and the law-enforcement agencies."
Nisar reminded the international community that after the vicious incident in New York in 2001, now most of the world was a safe place. However, despite the fact that none of the alleged perpetrators originated from Pakistan, the country is still bearing brunt of this war waged by the foreign powers, he said. He complained that the international community failed to understand the dire state in which Pakistan was due to war in the region.
Nisar pointed out that Pakistan gave sacrifice of its 26,000 people, including women and children and law-enforcement personnel, in this war on terror. He urged the police officers to support efforts to make Pakistan a place where peace and harmony and rule of law should prevail having no sectarianism, extremism and terrorism.
He called upon the officers to act as servants of the state and not the government and protect life, property and honour of people, help them in getting justice, never obey unlawful orders and earn their living honestly. The minister assured that media persons would be provided protection and he would soon be holding a meeting with representative media organisations to ponder on ways to protect journalists from violence.
Handing over keys of a bomb disposal response vehicle to Islamabad Inspector General of Police Sikandar Hayat, the minister said the vehicle would save lives of bomb disposal squad personnel as many of them were martyred in the past while defusing bombs with their hands.
Civil Defence Pakistan Director General Air Vice Marshal (r) Aftab Hussain told that 65 bomb disposal vehicles will be imported from the United Kingdom and will be deployed in all parts of the country, adding that 100 technicians had been trained for search and disposal of explosive material.