View source for Physics:National Command Authority (Pakistan)

{{Short description|Nuclear command and control authority of Pakistan}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox government agency
|agency_name   = National Command Authority (NCA)
|nativename    = {{nastaliq|مقتدرہِ قومی کمان}}
|logo          = Coat of arms of Pakistan.svg 
|logo_width    = 200px 
|logo_caption  =
|seal          = 
|seal_width    = 
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|picture       = 
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|formed        = {{start date and age|df=yes|p=y|2000|02|02}}<ref name=Dawn1/>
|preceding1    = ''None''
|preceding2    = 
|dissolved     = 
|superseding   = 
|jurisdiction  =Government of Pakistan 
|headquarters  = [[Place:Islamabad|Islamabad]], {{wipe|Pakistan}}
|coordinates   =
|employees     = 30,000+<ref>900 SPD soldiers pass graduation from Abbotabad centers, April 20, 2012, CNBC Pakistan, {{cite web |url=http://www.cnbcpakistan.com/900-SPD-soldiers-pass-graduation-from-Abbotabad-centers-news-2559.html |title=NameBright - Coming Soon |access-date=7 June 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130215180233/http://www.cnbcpakistan.com/900-SPD-soldiers-pass-graduation-from-Abbotabad-centers-news-2559.html |archive-date=2013-02-15 }}</ref>
|budget        =
|chief1_name     =Prime Minister of Pakistan<ref name=Dawn/> 
|chief1_position = acts as its Chairman
|chief2_name     =
|chief2_position =
|agency_type   = Nuclear command and control
|parent_agency = 
|child1_agency = 
|child2_agency = 
|keydocument1=
|website       =
|footnotes     = 
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The '''National Command Authority''' ('''NCA''') is an independent federal agency of the Government of Pakistan that is responsible for safeguarding of the national security through the military applications of the nuclear science.<ref name=Dawn/> 

With Prime Minister of Pakistan being its Chairperson, the NCA maintains and enhances the control and operational effectiveness of [[Engineering:Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction|Pakistan's nuclear weapon]] stockpiles and serves as a policy institute to work to reduce the danger from weapons of mass destruction in Pakistan.<ref name=Dawn/>

Established in 2000 alongside with its paramilitary unit, [[Physics:Strategic Plans Division Force|Strategic Plans Division Force]], the NCA was a direct successor to the Air Force Strategic Command which was established by the then-Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Anwar Shamim in 1983.<ref name=FAS/>

==Mission overview==
The National Command Authority is charged with joint-space operations (such as military satellites), information operations (such as [[Information warfare|information warfare]]), missile defense, internal and external command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR), and strategic deterrence, and combating weapons of mass destruction. The National Command Authority oversees the operations of the Pakistani Army, Air Force, and Navy's Strategic Commands, along with their functional basis. The unified military strategic command structure is intended to give the Prime Minister and Cabinet of Pakistan a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats (military, nuclear, chemical, biological, radiological, conventional, and non-conventional, and intelligence) and the means to respond to those threats as quickly as possible to prevent the collateral damage. The civilian Prime Minister is the Chairman of this Command, with all military assets, components of NCA, and strategic commands directly reporting to Chairman of their course of development and deployment.<ref name=Dawn/> Chairman Joint Chiefs of staff committee , Service Chiefs , and DG ISI are members of NCA , and [[Physics:Strategic Plans Division Force|DG SPD]] is the ex officio secretary of NCA , with SPD functioning as the NCA’s secretariat

==Organizational structure==
The NCA consists of the following nine [[Social:Ex officio member|ex officio member]]s:<ref name="NCAact">http://www.na.gov.pk/acts/act_2010/national_command_authority_act2010_090310.pdf {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Civil-military leadership composition and representations
|-
! [[Social:Ex officio member|Ex-officio officials]] !! Designation 
!Official!! Notes
|-
|Prime Minister of Pakistan || Chairman 
|Shehbaz Sharif|| Chairman, NCA 
|-
| Foreign Minister of Pakistan || Officiates
|Bilawal Bhutto Zardari<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2354463/bilawal-takes-oath-as-foreign-minister|title=Bilawal takes oath as foreign minister |date=27 April 2022|website=Express Tribune (news)|access-date=22 May 2022}}</ref>|| 
|-
|Interior Minister of Pakistan || Officiates
|Rana Sanaullah<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.interior.gov.pk/index.php/news-and-events/443-rana-sanaullah-khan-as-ministr-of-interior|title=Rana Sanaullah Khan as Minister of Interior|date=21 April 2022|website=Ministry of Interior Pakistan (official)|access-date=22 May 2022}}</ref>|| 
|-
|Finance Minister of Pakistan || Officiates
|Miftah Ismail<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.finance.gov.pk/|title=Miftah Ismail's Portfolio at as finance minister |date=27 April 2022|website=Government of Pakistan Finance Division (official)|access-date=22 May 2022}}</ref>|| 
|-
|Defence Minister of Pakistan || Officiates
|Khawaja Muhammad Asif<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mod.gov.pk/ProfileDetail/MDkyYjMxZGYtNzE1Mi00YWNmLWJmZmYtNTlhN2NhMDMzNmY4|title=On 19 April 2022, H.E KHAWAJA MUHAMMAD ASIF took oath as 39th Federal Minister for Defence of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. |date=19 April 2022|website=Ministry of Defence, Pakistan (official)|access-date=22 May 2022}}</ref>||
|-
|Defence Production Minister of Pakistan || Officiates 
|Muhammad Israr Tareen<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.modp.gov.pk/ProfileDetail/M2EzOTBiYTAtZjI0Yi00MzNjLWJhZjgtNWI0MWI5NWRmZWQ4|title=MUHAMMAD ISRAR TAREEN , FEDERAL MINISTER FOR DEFENCE PRODUCTION
|date=19 April 2022|website=Ministry of Defence Production, Pakistan (official)|access-date=22 May 2022}}</ref>||
|-
! !!  Military leadership and representations 
!!!
|-
!Four-star officers !! Inter-Services 
!!! Notes
|-
|Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee ||Joint Staff HQ 
|General Sahir Shamshad Mirza||Principal Military Adviser to the Government
|-
|Chief of the Army Staff || Army 
|General Asim Munir|| 
|-
|Chief of Naval Staff || Navy
|Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi||
|-
|Chief of Air Staff || {{wipe|Pakistan Air Force}} 
|Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babur||

|-
! !!  SPD & Intelligence  leadership and representations 
!!!
|-
!Three-star general !! Inter-Service
!!! Notes
|-
|Director-General [[Physics:Strategic Plans Division Force|Strategic Plans Division]] || [[Physics:Strategic Plans Division Force|SPD]]
|Lt. General Yusuf Jamal||Secretary, NCA
|-
|Director-General of ISI || ISI 
|Lt. General Nadeem Anjum||Intelligence Adviser
|}

The Director-General of the NCA's Strategic Plans Division (SPD) is the ''ex officio'' Secretary of the NCA and the SPD functions as the NCA's secretariat.<ref name="NCAact"/> The current Secretary of NCA is Lt. General Yusuf Jamal.

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.

==Background==
The Government of Pakistan felt the need to establish an administrative authority after Pakistan's first publicly announced atomic tests, ''Chagai-I'' and ''Chagai-II'', in late May 1998 at the Ras Koh weapon-testing labs in the Chagai Hills range of Chagai District, and the Kharan Desert of Balochistan Province. The roots of such mechanism traced back to the 1970s when Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto authorized the [[Engineering:Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction|atomic bomb project]] to keep the projects safe from being exploited, politicized, or infiltrated by enemy powers attempting to sabotage them.<ref name="Far Eastern Economic Review, 5 May 1994, Pg. 23; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database"/>

It is alleged by the former Chief of Army Staff, General Mirza Aslam Beg in 1994, that the Command was established in 1972 by former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto when he authorized the atomic bomb project.<ref name="Far Eastern Economic Review, 5 May 1994, Pg. 23; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database">{{cite web|last=NTI |first=Nuclear Threat Initiatives |title=Bare All and Be Damned |url=http://www.nti.org/media/pdfs/pakistan_nuclear.pdf?_=1316466791|publisher=Far Eastern Economic Review |via=NTI Nuclear and Missile Database |access-date=17 May 2012 |page=47 |date=5 May 1994 |quote=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}}</ref>  The Joint Staff Headquarters (JS HQ) served its combatant operational command and is chaired by the Prime Minister. In 1994, General Beg retains: " (...).... The NCA determines the state of readiness which has to be maintained at all times... (sic)... and lays down in great detail the policy of how the various components will be placed, protected and safeguarded.".<ref name="Far Eastern Economic Review, 5 May 1994, Pg. 23; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database"/>

In April 1999, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Chief of Army Staff, General Pervez 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.<ref name=FAS>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/pakistan/agency/nca.htm|title=The National Command Authority|website=Federation of American Scientists (fas.org) website|access-date=7 June 2018}}</ref> Finally, the command was formally established and given commissioned on February 3, 2000, after approval by Pakistan's National Security Council.<ref name=Dawn1/> The command compromises the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), the Development Control Committee (DCC), and a Strategic Plans Division (SPD).<ref name="Times of India">{{Cite press release|title=Pakistan Sets Up Weapons Control Authority|url=http://www.timesofindia.com|access-date=7 June 2018|newspaper=Times of India|date=4 February 2000}}</ref>  The Prime Minister— Chief Executive (Head of Government) of the country served as its chairman while other members included the high-profile Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense (Military Production), Economic, Science, and Interior, the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chiefs of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and the Director-General of the SPD.<ref name="Times of India"/> 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)".<ref name="Times of India"/><ref name=Dawn1>{{Cite press release|title=National Command Authority formed|url=http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/2000/05feb00.html#nati|access-date=7 June 2018|newspaper=Dawn archives 2000|date=2 February 2000}}</ref>

Since the 1970s onward, the National Command Authority is responsible for policy formulation and will exercise employment and development control over all strategic nuclear forces and strategic organizations.<ref name="Far Eastern Economic Review, 5 May 1994, Pg. 23; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database"/> It consists of an Employment Control Committee and a Development Control Committee, as well as the Strategic Plans Division (SPD) which acts as its secretariat. The SPD is responsible for the management and administration of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile. It was created the same year as the NCA was formed.<ref name="Far Eastern Economic Review, 5 May 1994, Pg. 23; in NTI Nuclear and Missile Database"/>

Their directives are to be operationalized by a new SPD under the control of a Director-General at the rank of Lieutenant-General (Air Marshal or Vice-Admiral) in charge of the management and administration of the tactical and strategic nuclear forces. The current{{when|date=September 2017}} director-general of the SPD is Lt Gen Sarfraz Sattar after replacing Lieutenant-General Mazhar Jamil.

Since its establishment, Pervez Musharraf, as President of Pakistan, had served its first chairman. However, after the 2008 General Elections, Pakistani lawmakers introduced a new law which was passed unanimously by the Pakistani Parliament.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/39046/senate-passes-amended-national-command-authority-bill-2016/|title=Senate passes amended National Command Authority Bill 2016 |date=22 December 2016|website=Daily Times (newspaper)|access-date=7 June 2018}}</ref> The bill placed the NCA's Authority under the Prime Minister’s command.<ref name=Dawn>{{cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1241802 |author=Baqir Sajjad Syed|date=25 February 2016|title=National Command Authority calls for strategic restraint pact in South Asia|publisher=Dawn (newspaper)|access-date=7 June 2018}}</ref>

==Subordinate Commands==

The directives of the NCA are to be operationalised by the:

*Strategic Plans Division
**Army Strategic Forces Command
**Naval Strategic Forces Command
**Air Force Strategic Command

== See also ==
*Nuclear doctrine of Pakistan
*List of missiles of Pakistan
*[[Engineering:Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction|Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://missilethreat.csis.org/pakistan/ CSIS Missile Threat - Pakistan]
* [http://www.na.gov.pk/acts/act_2010/national_command_authority_act2010_090310.pdf National Command Authority Act, 2010]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/pakistan/nca.htm Global Security Report]
* [https://fas.org/nuke/guide/pakistan/agency/nca.htm FAS Report]

{{Military of Pakistan}}

[[Category:Nuclear safety and security]]

{{Sourceattribution|National Command Authority (Pakistan)}}