National Command Authority (Pakistan)

The National Command Authority (NCA) is a federal agency responsible for safeguarding the national security of Pakistan through command, control and operational decisions-making regarding the Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme.

With Prime 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.

Established in 2000 along with its secretariat, Strategic Plans Division, 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.

In late 1998, the Government of Pakistan felt the need to establish an administrative oversight shortly after conducting the nuclear tests, Chagai-I and Chagai-II, in late May 1998 at the Ras Koh Range in the Chagai Hills, and the Kharan Desert of Balochistan, Pakistan. The roots of such mechanism traced back to the 1970s when Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto authorized the atomic bomb program to keep the projects safe from being exploited, politicized, or infiltrated by enemy powers attempting to sabotage them.

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.

The command was formally established on February 3, 2000, after approval by Pakistan's National Security Council. The command compromises the Employment Control Committee (ECC), the Development Control Committee (DCC), and a Strategic Plans Division (SPD). The Prime Minister— Chief Executive of the country serves as its chairman while other members included the high-profile Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence (Military Production), Economic, Science, and Interior. 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)". The Joint Staff Headquarters (JS HQ) served its combatant operational command.

Pervez Musharraf, as President of Pakistan, served as its first chairman. However, after the 2008 General Elections, Pakistani lawmakers introduced a new law which was passed unanimously by the Pakistani Parliament. The bill placed the NCA under the Prime Minister’s authority.

The NCA consists of the following nine ex officio members: