National Security Council: The root of the conflict? Explained in numbers

The central concept behind the creation of the National Security Council (NSC) was to institutionalise decision-making on national security issues in Pakistan between the civilian leadership and the military.

The NSC was formed, along with a dedicated secretariat of the National Security Division, in 2013, to fill the huge void that existed in policy-making. Earlier, although the Cabinet Committee on Defence had existed, perspectives of the security sector were delivered through un-institutionalised and one-on-one interactions between elected premiers and successive military commanders.

As Pakistan has continued to face myriad security challenges and is often called a security state, the NSC