Imran says previous govts failed to strengthen Pakistan’s economy

Pakistan got its first ever National Security Polivy. Prime minister Imran Khan on Friday unveiled the policy, which articulates a citizen-centric framework, placing economic security at its core unlike the previous one-dimensional security policy where the focus was on the military. In his address in Islamabad Imran Khan noted that governments' mindsets since the country's inception were to focus on military security and they never planned beyond it. The country was blessed to have well-trained and disciplined security forces who protected the territorial boundaries against belligerent neighbours, he added.

PM Khan stressed that Pakistan needed to have inclusive growth, but "compulsions to acquire loans from institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) put the national economy at risk". He lamented that the country never had a plan to secure itself economically.  Khan said that the previous governments had failed to strengthen Pakistan’s economy. The five-year-policy document covering a period between 2022-26, is being propped up by the Khan government as the country’s first-ever strategy paper of its kind that spells out the national security vision and guidelines for the attainment of those goals. The full 110-page NSP document will remain classified. However, a shorter nearly 50-page version is being published. 

Topics like accountability, curriculum review, governance challenges, including review of the 18th Constitution Amendment and future status of Gilgit-Baltistan, will be part of the classified portion. Opposition parties have criticised the government for not taking their input during the formulation of the policy. The document contains chapters on national cohesion, economy, defence, internal security, foreign policy and human security.