India, in the wee hours of Tuesday, conducted air strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, blowing hundreds of terrorists staying in terror camps, to avenge the killing of more than 40 CRPF jawans this month in Pulwama. Now, the rattled Pakistan, which has acknowledged the air raid but refused to confirm the casualty numbers, has now resorted to issuing veiled nuclear threats against India.
“There is a joint session of parliament tomorrow and then the prime minister has summoned a meeting of the National Command Authority on. I hope you know what the NCA means and what it constitutes,” Maj General Asif Ghafoor, head of Pakistan military’s media wing was quoted as saying. He also added that Pakistan will surprise India by its upcoming move. The meeting will happen on Wednesday.
NCA or National Command Authority of Pakistan is a joint-command that oversees Pakistan’s strategic components, especially the nuclear capabilities. The declaration of NCA meeting at a time when India has launched lethal air offensives against Pakistan-based terror camps seems nothing but one of its tactics to intimidate India. After India’s air raids, Pakistan Army has also targeted civilian areas of Jammu and Kashmir violating the ceasefire by resorting to heavy mortar shelling on 55 forward areas in Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch districts on Tuesday.
The NCA was set up after National Security Council chief executive General Pervez Musharraf overthrew Pakistan’s Nawaz Shariff government, by a powerful military coup in 2000. Musharaff, however, in the wake of the air strike recently, had warned his own country that if it attacks India even with one atomic bomb, it will be wiped by 20 of them hurled by Inda.
In 2019, NCA was established as a “civilian-led body in charge of the country’s nuclear assets” by Imran Khan government.
“The NCA will be responsible for policy formulation and will exercise employment and development control over all strategic nuclear forces and strategic organizations. It will comprise the Employment Control Committee and Development Control Committee as well as Strategic Plans Division which will act as secretariat,” A report was quoted by News18.
NCA consists of Employment Control Committee, Development Control Committee and a Strategic Plans Division of Pakistan. The first two sections are handled by Head of State, that is Prime Minister of Pakistan, with the help of ministers. The third section, Strategic Plans Division is headed by a senior army officer.
