In a meeting convened on Monday by the government to review the progress on National Action Plan (NAP), the government was reminded that progress on NAP on counter-terrorism continued to be marred by inadequate effort to implement some of its key elements.
The meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, National Security Adviser Nasser Janjua, Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif, Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Zubair Hayat and other senior civil and military officials.
In a brief statement on the meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office said, “Issues of national security were discussed. Different stages of National Action Plan were reviewed.”
According to a local media, the focus of the meeting remained on the areas where the progress was sluggish.
Action against terror financing; foreign funding of seminaries; proscribed organisations and sectarian groups; hate speeches; and madressah reforms are some of the elements of NAP that have long been identified as poor performing. The provincial mechanism for civil-military coordination on security issues too has been experiencing difficulties.
“Unfortunately Zarb-i-Azb and associated intelligence-based operations were not being fully complemented by other components of the 20-point National Action Plan,” a local media reported.
NAP was announced last December by the government with the consensus of all major political parties in the aftermath of the Army Public School, Peshawar, tragedy.
