Al-Azhār

Volume 8, Issue 2 (July-December, 2022)

ISSN (Print): 2519-6707
Issue: http://www.al-azhaar.org/index.php/alazhar/issue/view/19
URL: http://www.al-azhaar.org/index.php/alazhar/article/view/415
Article DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.7509757

Title National Security Policy of

Pakistan (2022-2026): Introduction
and Impact on Political Landscape
of Pakistan

Author (s): Dr. Muhammad Shafi

Dr. Muhammad Ali Dinakhel

Received on: 26 January, 2022

Accepted on: 27 March, 2022
Published on: 25 December, 2022

Citation: Dr. Muhammad Shafi

Dr. Muhammad Ali Dinakhel
“National Security Policy of
Pakistan(2022-2026):
Introduction and Impact on
Political Landscape ,”” Al-
Azhār: 8 No.2 (2022):30-41

Publisher: The University of Agriculture

Click here for more
Peshawar
Al-Azhᾱr:vol 8,Issue 2 National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026) July-December 2022

National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026): Introduction

and Impact on Political Landscape of Pakistan

*Dr. Muhammad Shafi

*Dr. Muhammad Ali Dinakhel

Abstracat
Pakistan announced its new national security policy, 2022-2026, on January 14,
2022. The new policy is claimed to be citizen centric, focuses human and economic
security. It is different from traditional concept of national security that rely on
strengthening military and defense. The new policy, shifted the focus of the state on
the human security, first time in history of Pakistan. This study focuses on the
introduction of the new non-traditional concept of national security first time
introduced in Pakistan and initiate debate on its impact on the political landscape
of Pakistan.
Key Words: National Security Policy Pakistan, Human Security, Economic
Security, traditional concept of national security, non-traditional concept of
national security .

…………………………………………………..

* Assistant Professor, Area Study Centre, University of Peshawar

**Research Associate, Area Study Centre, University of Peshawar

31
Al-Azhᾱr:vol 8,Issue 2 National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026) July-December 2022

Significance and Scope of the Study

The research topic is important and significant in the sense that till date a
traditional concept of national security prevailed in Pakistan. The national
security policy of Pakistan 2022-2026 NSP) , a non-traditional concept,
stipulates national security extended to seven subject areas, such as, national
unity, governance, economic security, human security, territorial integrity,
internal security and foreign policy of Pakistan. Only one component, the
military security, of traditional concept of national security, comprise part of this
new policy. However, the challenge is how to shift from state-centric notion of
traditional concept of national security prevailed for decades in Pakistan to the
new vision followed by its implementation. For the purpose much research is
further needed to ensure the shift towards human security as a main frame of
reference. Furthermore, the National Security of Pakistan: 2022-2026
(hereafter NSP) seeks to locate national security in the economic security of the
country. It envisages expanding the national resources and its equitable
redistribution of dividends among the deprived segments of the population.
However, the challenge is how to operationalize the concept in reality is million
dollar question .
Concept of National Security
The national security is an umbrella term, reflected everywhere in a nation’s
overall state policy. Under the overarching national security policy, all the
sectoral policies, of various sectors, are framed according to it and later
translated into operational strategies and action plans. In US and UK, national
security is named as ‘National Security Strategy’ and ‘Grand National Strategy’,
respectively. (Singh: 2015) .
The concept of national security during much part of the 20th century, was
understood strictly in term of military power and strategic readiness. However,
new realities of life forced the states to shift focus on other acute emerging
challenges, such as, poverty, human security against pandemics, rising violence
in the society, water depletion, climatic issues and bulging overpopulation.
Pakistan is one of the top four contributor to the growth of world population
(United Nations, 2021, p. 33). The bulging population has direct association to
many socio-cultural and economic problems in the country. In November, 2021,
the Senate standing Committee of Pakistan was informed that crime, such as,
32
Al-Azhᾱr:vol 8,Issue 2 National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026) July-December 2022

murder, bag-snatch, house robberies, stealing and fraud are on the rise for the
past three years. The root causes are price rise, inflation, and contracting job
opportunities in the country (Abbasi, 2021) .
Thus, overshadowed by new circumstances and emerging reality, the concept of
national security also realigned and confining it to military warfare and national
defense alone, is committing fallacy of reductionism. The recent political unrest
in Sri Lanka, is an eye-opener that led to killing of Ministers (Aljazeera, 2022).
Therefore, threat to the national security may not emerge from a non-stat actor,
or a hostile neighboring state but within the confines of the state self (Robert:
2021). As a consequence, the scope of new concept of national security is
broader and cover a number of socio-economic, political and cultural fronts,
such as, capability of the state to protect citizens, strengthen economy and
develop institutions. Besides, national security policy also impinge upon a variety
of other securities ranging from political, energy, homeland, cyber space and
environmental security. National security also needs to rely on other
nontraditional tactics by combining political, economic, and military power,
along with diplomacy (Robert: 2021).
The objectives of the national security, hence, should be so fixed to meet all the
impending threats as mentioned above .
Objectives of National Security
National security policy is framed in order to address all the visible and invisible,
potential challenges and threats to the national security. Thus, one of the major
objectives of a national security policy is to frame a national strategy to handle
national challenges in light of national values (Janjua: 2022). The task therefore,
necessitate a thorough assessment of all potential threats to national security. The
assessment is usually derived from the input of civil society and security agencies
that are relevant to security. This will help in setting realistic and achievable
goals. Precise priority and consistency in decisions also depends on a better vision
of national security.
To put it other way, a national security policy is a set of broad guidelines for
creating strategies that connect various elements of national power for a long list
of doable plans. Thus, national security policy is an axil that works both ways,
creates grip and coherence, in an overarching national policy, serve as a network

33
Al-Azhᾱr:vol 8,Issue 2 National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026) July-December 2022

of policies, such as, defense, economic, foreign relations, media and internal
security. Concrete measures for achieving the objectives of the NSP are not
visible in the NSP document (Ansari, 2022). National security policy, in some
states, framed by national leader and political parties that reflects a paradigm or
framework through which a leader view and understand the world as a source of
his or her government vision. Obama, ex US President was known for his novel
perspective regarding national security policy of the U.S. He associated national
security to the human security by including economy, non-proliferation of arms
and climatic changes as sources of threats (National security strategy, 2015). In
2017, Trump, another U.S. ex- President, prioritized China and Russia, as
revisionist powers, as sources of that to the national security. He removed
climate change from the national security priorities (Eilperin, 2020). Trump
favored competition instead of believing on community of interest in the
international arena .
Comparison of Present and Past NSP of Pakistan
Before introduction of new NSP 2022-2026, the previous national security
policies in Pakistan’s remained traditional prioritizing military dimension of state
security as compared to security of the population. There are many reasons for
it. Frequent derailment of democracy, geostrategic situation and involvement in
regional conflicts titled the balance to a more traditional approach to national
security. Therefore, the country remained far behind in terms of human security.
The new NSP 2022-2026 of Pakistan shifted the focus of national security from
traditional one. In a message by the adviser on national security of Pakistan
clarifies the concept of national security. He described that the new national
security thinking pursues increasing economic resources for the purpose that
Pakistan may simultaneously strengthen both traditional and non-traditional
security. He further elucidated that a prudent approach towards national security
is to keep economic security at the core, judiciously handover the dividends of a
strong economy to further strengthen human security and national defense (NSP,
2021).

34
Al-Azhᾱr:vol 8,Issue 2 National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026) July-December 2022

Who frame National Security Policy?

The US, the national security policy is named National Security Strategy. It is
framed every year at the National Security Council in the White House in
Washington D.C. Furthermore, both the legislative and executive organs are
engaged in formulating national security policy for the reason to promote a
common understanding between Congress and the executive branch on national
security. The involvement of legislature, the U.S. Congress, also entail
legitimization of the requests for resources. Involvement of executive, the US
President, meant communicating the executive’s strategic vision to foreign
friends and allies. In Pakistan, the current national security policy approved by
the Prime Minister Imran Khan on January 14, 2022 (Dawn, 2022).
In principle, while framing national security policy, various sections of society
may include in conceptualizing, especially involvement of both the Executive
and legislative organs of the government as practiced in United States state.
Furthermore, while framing of new national security policy, perspective of
the government and various state institutions is
required.

Brief History of Pakistan national Security Policy

Right from its earlier years of independence, Pakistan remained a national
security state and adopted a state-centric notion of national security, generally
considered as traditional concept. Traditional perspective on national security
prioritizes national defense, territorial integrity, internal security and diplomacy
while the non-traditional outlook regarding national security emphasizes broader
elements that may impinge on a country’s economic health and citizen well-being
(NSP, 2021). Many reasons can be associated why Pakistan adopted traditional
35
Al-Azhᾱr:vol 8,Issue 2 National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026) July-December 2022

concept of national security in the past. One such reason was that national
security policy remained blurred and could not be conceptualized clearly.
Secondly, even if it was conceptualized, it was dominated by traditional
framework, the state-centric rather than people centric approach. The state
centric perspective was due to traditions of the personalized-decision-making
process which is a hallmark of weak democracies. Weak political regimes in
Pakistan always favored traditional concept of national security in order to
appease military establishment to sustain the political government. Military
establishment, stronger on traditional concept of security, could dictate weak
regimes to orient national security policy under a specific frame of reference.
However, the new NSP 2022-2026, country’s first ever non-traditional national
security policy, signed by Imran Khan, the ex-prime Minster, signed and
unveiled in Islamabad on January 14, 2022. It is reported by the NSA (National
Security Adviser) that some 600 academics, analysts, civil society members and
students were accessed for an inclusive document. It is also described that the
said document also took input from Pakistan’s cultural and ethnic diversity to
promote cohesion.
National Security Policy: 2021-2026: Main Features
The new national security policy is reportedly, ascertained through repeated
discussions and views of several federal institutions as well as provisional
governments as stated above. It is first time that such a comprehensive national
security policy is framed by the government and equally it is also a slow transition
that Pakistan is now shifting to the Non-traditional concept of National Security,
focusing people, national economy and other socio-economic indicators as the
main sources of national security instead of state security alone. NSP, launched
in January 2022, is a precedent-setting and an ambitious document (Levesques,

36
Al-Azhᾱr:vol 8,Issue 2 National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026) July-December 2022

2022). Non-traditional security threats have been acknowledged at par with the
conventional ones for the first time in NSP (Leeza, 2022).The new national
policy is not only addresses national defense and military but searches for national
security by creating formal linkages between human prosperity, safety, nation’s
economic and military security. Thus, the new national security policy
recognizes the interconnectedness of both traditional and non-traditional
elements as part of national security responsive for the coming decades. The NSP
2022-2026, includes seven main areas as sources of national security, the
national cohesion, good governance, economic security, human security,
territorial security, internal security, and foreign policy. It seems that in the new
policy only one notion traditional notion, the military security, has been added.
For the first time in Pakistan, the NSP in Pakistan has taken a comprehensive
approach to security including, human security and economic security (Akhtar,
2022). The most prominent aspect of NSP is its visible transition from traditional
notions of national security toward a balanced and symbiotic relationship with
non-traditional elements. (Khalid, 2022).
A Hybrid Policy
The new National Security Policy of Pakistan: 2022-2026, is a comprehensive,
citizen-centric policy, a product of long deliberation. And one new thing is that
it is applauded by military establishment of Pakistan. The document draws out a
five-year plan extending over a period of four years, 2022-2026. The policy
will serve as a guide to orient nation’s foreign policy, national defense, and
economic policies to guide overall national decision-making. In the new policy
economic security is considered as the core and there are guidelines for various
sectors. The new vision reflects that achievement of economic security, in turn,
will help achieve the national security objectives. If the original document of the

37
Al-Azhᾱr:vol 8,Issue 2 National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026) July-December 2022

new national security policy is analyzed, its sub section, entitled as, Framework,
clearly reveals national security as a combination of traditional concept and
nontraditional concept of national security. Traditional Security concept focuses
on defense, territorial integrity, internal security, and diplomacy, while non-
traditional security concept comprises broader elements that addresses a
country’s economic health and citizen well-being. Thus, under the new policy
document, government of Pakistan must ensure citizens’ safety, security,
dignity, and prosperity (NSP, 2021). No one can doubt that first time framing a
new concept of national security is an achievement of both the political
government and military establishment. Specification and bringing definiteness
to national security vision was important because it cleared out any misuse or
abuse of the concept of national security for personal motives. The report in the
Arab News, look at the national security policy of Pakistan: 2022-2026, as citizen-
centric framework that seeks to secure an economically resilient Pakistan. Thus,
it may be concluded that Pakistan new national security policy draw on two
concepts of security, thus a hybrid one, which may prove auspicious for the state
in future.
Civil-military Consensus:
The most important characteristics, of this new national security policy, is the
civil-military consensus. The consensus and extension of cooperation from
military establishment also indicates the emerging realization inside the military
establishment to give space to civilian input in national security affairs. Rather,
the new approach, the civil and military consensus to redefine the state security
paradigm is a positive development. The new National Security Policy seeks to
support national security through a robust national economy as economic
security. A strong national economy, expanding national resources, its equitable

38
Al-Azhᾱr:vol 8,Issue 2 National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026) July-December 2022

redistribution and targeting the deprived segments of the population is what the
new concept emphasizes on. However, the real challenge is building a broader
national consensus on it and operationalizing the concept empirically. In addition
to that, getting approved by parliament is necessary but not stuffiest reason, there
is also a need to encourage a public debate on it. Also, it should not be seen as a
policy of a particular government but of the state (Hussain, 2022).
Impact on political landscape of Pakistan
New national security policy of Pakistan: 2022-2026, has the potential to have
positive impacts on the political landscape of Pakistan provided it is
implemented. Although input of opposition political parties in parliament was
not encouraged. The national security adviser, asserts that the new policy was
developed in consultation of various stakeholders in different areas and
professions. But even then it is a good start to shift the focus of national security
policy from traditional to a non-traditional one. However, the next crucial test
of the new policy is how well the subordinate ministries are allowed to formulate
their respective policies in light of NSP 2022-2026. Leaving aside other impacts
which is outside the parameters of this paper, what impact the new national
security policy, is expected to have on political landscape of Pakistan? Right in
the initial stages, while the policy was under process, just before its presentation
for approval the parliamentary committee on national security was briefed. The
opposition members boycotted the briefing (Hussain, 2022). The current
political landscape of Pakistan is resonated with growing acts of terrorism both
on political and religious basis in ex Fata and Baluchistan, are serious threats.
How the new national security policy impacts the current political landscape, is
to be determined by the future positive apolitical indicators in the coming years.
Taking main political forces into confidence is important. Confrontationist policy

39
Al-Azhᾱr:vol 8,Issue 2 National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026) July-December 2022

either by government or military establishment will be a biggest stumbling block

in achieving and assuaging the challenges on political landscape of Pakistan.
Conclusion
National Security of Pakistan (2022-2026) is a hybrid national security policy,
comprising on both traditional and non-traditional concepts of national security.
Seven subjects reflecting non-traditional perspective on national security such as
national unity, governance, economic security, human security, territorial
integrity, internal security and foreign policy of Pakistan have been included in
the NSP of Pakistan. New realities of life forced the state to shift focus on other
acute emerging challenges such as poverty, human security against pandemics,
violence in society, water depletion, climate issue and over population.
However, one major challenge is to assess how this new policy assuages the
current fragile political landscape of Pakistan.
References
Akhtar, Rabia (2022). Pakistan’s new National Security Policy: A step in the
right direction. Available at atlanticcouncil.org.
Abbasi, Kashif (2021). Senate body concerned over rising trend of crime in
capital. Daily Dawn, November 24, 2021.
Ansari, Neha (2022). Pakistan’s National Security Policy: Pros and Cons.
Available at https://ipripak.org/pakistans-national-security-policy-pros-and-
cons/ retrieved on 25/11/2022.
Hussain, Zahid (2022). Redefining National Security. Daily Dawn, January 12,
2022
Khalid, Zaki (2022). Examining the National Security Policy of Pakistan 2022-
2026. Available at https://cscr.pk/explore/themes/defense-
security/examining-the-national-security-policy-of-pakistan-2022-2026/
retrieved on 25/11/2022
Leeza, Kashoon (2022). Pakistan’s National Security Policy: Opportunities and
Contradictions. Available at https://southasianvoices.org/pakistans-national-
security-policy-opportunities-and-contradictions/ retrieved on 25/11/2022
Levesques, Antoine (2022). Why Pakistan’s first national-security policy
matters for future regional stability. Available at

40
Al-Azhᾱr:vol 8,Issue 2 National Security Policy of Pakistan (2022-2026) July-December 2022

https://www.iiss.org/blogs/analysis/2022/02/why-pakistans-first-national-
security-policy-matters-for-future-regional-stability retrieved on 25/11/2022.
National Security Strategy (2015). National Security Strategy 2015,
Washington, The White House.
Longley Robert (2021). National Security Definition and Examples, available
online at: https://www.thoughtco.com/national-security-definition-and-
examples-5197450, retrieved on May 7, 2022.
[NSP (2021)]. National Security Policy of Pakistan 2022-2026. available at
www.nsd.gov.pk
Robert, Longley (2021). National Security Definition and Examples, available
online at: https://www.thoughtco.com/national-security-definition-and-
examples-5197450, retrieved on May 7, 2022.
Singh, Anand K., (2015). Concept of National Security: An Overview. In
Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, Vol. 2, Issue. 12
(December 2015), pp.1920-1925.
United Nations (2021). Global Population Growth and Sustainable
Development, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Aljazeera (2022). Sri Lanka MP among five killed as violence escalates, available
at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/9/sri-lanka-govt-supporters-
attack-protesters-demolish-tents retrieved on 25/11/2022.
Eilperin, Juliet et al (2020). Trump rolled back more than 125environmental
safeguards. Here’s how. Daily Washingtonpost, October 30, 2020.
Dawn, (2021). PM Imran launches public version of first-ever National
Security Policy. Daily Dawn, February 14, 2022.

41