| مقتدرہِ قومی کمان | |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2 February 2000 (25 years ago) (2000-02-02)[1] |
| Preceding agency |
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| Type | Nuclear command and control |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Pakistan |
| Headquarters | Islamabad,Pakistan |
| Employees | Classified |
| Agency executive |
|
TheNational Command Authority (NCA) is a federal agency responsible for safeguarding the national security of Pakistan through command, control and operational decisions-making regarding thePakistan's nuclear weapons programme.[2]
WithPrime Minister of Pakistan being its Chairperson, the NCA maintains and enhances the safety control and security operational effectiveness of Pakistan's nuclear weapons stockpile and serves as a policy institute regarding weapons of mass destruction in Pakistan.[2]
Established in2000 along with its secretariat,Strategic Plans Division, the NCA was a direct successor to theAir Force Strategic Command which was established by the then-Chief of Air Staff Air Chief MarshalAnwar Shamim in 1983.[3]
In late 1998, theGovernment of Pakistan felt the need to establish an administrative oversight shortly after conducting thenuclear tests,Chagai-I andChagai-II, in late May 1998 at theRas Koh Range in theChagai Hills, and theKharan Desert ofBalochistan, Pakistan. The roots of such mechanism traced back to the 1970s whenPrime MinisterZulfikar Ali Bhutto authorised theatomic bomb program to keep the projects safe from being exploited, politicised, or infiltrated by enemy powers attempting to sabotage them.[4]
In April 1999, theChairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Chief of Army Staff, GeneralPervez Musharraf developed a unified central command system to use nuclear and missile technology as part of the defence and security of nuclear assets under government control.[3]
The command was formally established on February 3, 2000, after approval by Pakistan'sNational Security Council.[1] The command compromises theEmployment Control Committee (ECC), theDevelopment Control Committee (DCC), and aStrategic Plans Division (SPD).[5] The Prime Minister— Chief Executive of the country serves as its chairman while other members included the high-profile Ministers ofForeign Affairs,Defence (Military Production),Economic,Science, andInterior.[5] The DCC includes the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee (as deputy chairman of DCC), the chiefs of the armed forces, the director general of the SPD, and a "representative of the strategic organization and scientific community (science adviser)".[5][1] TheJoint Staff Headquarters (JS HQ) served its combatant operational command.
Pervez Musharraf, asPresident of Pakistan, served as its first chairman. However, after the2008 General Elections, Pakistani lawmakers introduced a new law which was passed unanimously by thePakistani Parliament.[6] The bill placed the NCA under the Prime Minister’s authority.[2][4]
The NCA consists of the following nineex officio members:[7]
The DG of the NCA's Strategic Plans Division (SPD) is theex officio Secretary of the NCA and the SPD functions as the NCA's secretariat.[7]
Decision making in the NCA takes place through consensus and, in the event that consensus is not achieved, then through voting, with each member having a single vote.
In 1990, the Combat Development Directorate was created by thePakistan Army, withMajor-GeneralZiauddin Butt becoming its first director-general.: xvii [9] The directorate concerning with nuclear weapons development and delivery mechanism reported directly toarmy chief or thechief of general staff.: 388 [9] The combat development directorate functioned until 1998 with Lieutenant-General Zulfikar Ali Khan its final director when the Strategic Plans Division was created as a secretariat of the National Command Authority in 2000.: x [9]
The directives of the National Command Authority are operationalised by the Strategic Plans Division (SPD) under the control of a Director-General at the rank ofLieutenant-General (Air Marshal orVice-Admiral).[4] As of 2022, the director-general of the SPD is Yusuf Jamal.[10]
| Directors General of Strategic Plans Division | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Start of Term | End of Term | Notes |
| Major-GeneralZiauddin Butt | 1990 | 1993 | As Combat Development Directorate |
| Lieutenant-General Zulfikar Ali Khan | 1993 | 2001 | As Combat Development Directorate |
| Lieutenant-General Khalid Kidwai | February 2000 | December 2013 | |
| Lieutenant-GeneralZubair Hyatt | December 2013 | April 2015 | |
| Lieutenant-General Mazhar Jamil | April 2015 | September 2017 | |
| Lieutenant-GeneralSarfraz Sattar | September 2017 | November 2019[11] | |
| Lieutenant-GeneralNadeem Zaki Manj | November 2019 | October 2022 | |
| Lieutenant-GeneralYusuf Jamal | October 2022 | Present | |
The NCA determines the state of readiness which has to be maintained at all times...and lays down in great detail the policy of how the various components will be placed, protected and safeguarded
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