National Security Council of Pakistan - History

History

The National Security Council Act of April 2004 created the current version of the Council. President and Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf created the office in Aiwan-e-Sadr, and appoint civil bureaucrat Tariq Aziz as the National Security Advisor. He resigned from the post of NSC secretariat when Musharraf resigned from presidency on 18 August 2008. Pakistan Army's retired two-star general, Major-General Mahmud Ali Durrani, was appointed as the National Security Advisor, directly reporting to the Prime minister Secretariat. Major-General Durrani was fired by the Prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in January 2009 for "not consulting the Prime Minister while giving statements on foreign relation matters". The matter in question was the acceptance by the Government of Pakistan of the Pakistani nationality of the sole surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who was involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks and was in the custody of the Mumbai police. After the incident, Prime minister Gillani vowed to abolish the National Security Council in February 2009. However, the proposal was reject by the Parliament, and through, a Presidential ordinance, the National Security Council's office was moved to President's official residence, Aiwan-e-Sadr. As of today, the council has 21 members, and is chaired by the President of Pakistan.