ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran khan approved the creation of the National Intelligence Coordination Committee, a mechanism to coordinate more than two dozen intelligence agencies in the country, to be headed by the head of the ISI, according to a press report on Tuesday.
Although there have been discussions about establishing the coordination forum, its terms of reference and modus operandi would be decided once it formally takes shape, the daily Dawn quoted a high-level security source as saying.
The new body would be headed by the general director of Interservicios de Inteligencia (ISI), who would serve as its president, he said.
Intelligence agencies have had at least two rounds of discussions on the issue, after which the proposal was presented to the prime minister for approval. The first meeting of the coordinating body is expected to be held next week.
The NICC would serve as a mechanism to coordinate the more than two dozen intelligence organizations in the country. National Authority Against Terrorism it would also be part of the new structure.
The move is part of the long-awaited reform of the intelligence apparatus, which aims to clarify the role of the respective agencies, improve their coordination and optimize their capabilities, according to the report.
One of the lessons learned by the country during the fight against terrorism was that effective intelligence coordination was the weakest link in the entire effort. Importantly, it resulted in a waste of critical time and, in some cases, agencies were not even able to gather the available information. In addition, it was a major obstacle to the elaboration of collective strategies, according to the report.
A leaked version of the Abbottabad Commission report had revealed that the commission, while noting the absence of a civil-military intelligence coordination mechanism, had also proposed the establishment of an agency along the lines of the States Department of Homeland Security. United to synergize the work of the main spy. agencies in the country.
The Abbottabad Commission was created to investigate the circumstances surrounding the murder of the elusive al Qaeda boss Osama bin Laden in a US raid on a compound in the garrison city of Abbottabad in 2011.
Although the report has not been officially declassified, it reportedly made 32 wide-ranging recommendations to address the problems identified during the course of its investigation based on testimony from key civilian and military officials; intelligence coordination was one of them.
There have been multiple attempts to develop this coordination in the past, but little progress could be made due to differences over the leadership of the new body, which has now been resolved.
On July 26, 2008, the then People’s Party government even notified the placement of the ISI and the Pakistani Intelligence Office under the “administrative, financial and operational control” of the Interior Ministry. But the decision was reversed within 24 hours due to strong reservations from one of the organizations.
Similar efforts were made during the rule of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, when Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan headed the Interior Ministry, the report adds.
On video: Pakistan to form a new national intelligence body to coordinate the country’s spy agencies
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