PM to chair National Security Conference today

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has summoned a National Security Conference in Islamabad on Saturday to discuss the matters relating to internal security.

According to a notification issued by the PM House, all the parliamentary leaders have been invited to the meeting, which will be held at 10:00am in Islamabad.

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) General Zaheerul Islam and Director General Military Operations (DGMO) will be among the participants of the meeting.

The participants will be briefed on the progress of Operation Zarb-e-Azb during the meeting. The achievements of the ongoing operation in North Waziristan Agency and its future goals would also came under discussion. The floor will also be open for discussion regarding the imposition of Article 245 in Islamabad.

Parliamentary leaders that will be in attendance include Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Syed Khursheed Shah, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman among others.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif have also confirmed that they will attend the meeting.

Other ministers that will also join the conference include Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rasheed, Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The high-level meeting is being held when the PML-N government is bracing for major anti-government campaigns by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in Lahore and Islamabad.