The National Security Committee (NSC) meeting Wednesday started at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to unearth the facts behind the purported audio leaks from the PM House, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is presiding over the NSC meeting while the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman and all three services’ chiefs are also participating in it.
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General and Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director General are also attending the meeting.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Interior Affairs, Finance Minister and Minister for Information are also present in the meeting.
The NSC summit is not only discussing the audio leaks but also broaching the subject related to national security. The huddle is reviewing the security arrangements of the PM Office too.
An initial report about the PM House audio leaks saga will also be tabled in the meeting.
The PMO security breach has become a serious matter as a slew of more audio clips of conversations taking place in the PMO kept surfacing online on Monday. This has raised alarm bells among the ruling elite as well as other political leaders and national security agencies.
During a presser on Tuesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz termed the audio leaks of the PM House a matter of grave concern while announcing to form of an investigation committee to unearth the facts.
He said that the issue of audio leaks was a sensitive affair putting a big question mark on the security arrangements of the PMO.
The PM said that the affair was so shameful that when visitors from foreign countries came to the PMO, they would feel uncomfortable if they realized that the conversations were bugged in the official places.
It has also been learnt that a joint investigation team (JIT) has been constituted to probe the massive security breach, and the top intelligence agencies have completed an initial inquiry. The agencies' heads are expected to present the report before the premier in the NSC meeting today.
However, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had earlier tried to downplay the leak episode with the latter saying it a ‘storm in the teacup’. He suggested there was nothing to be concerned about if it was mere “hacking of mobile phones”. He, however, did call it a serious security breach if anyone had bugged the PM House.
He informed that the agencies had completed their initial inquiry and they would share their findings with the prime minister in the NSC meeting.