Pakistan’s Counterterrorism Policy-A Holistic Strive

Prof. Dr Shabana Fayyaz

Terrorism is a borderless phenomenon and necessitates a multidimensional response that transcends traditional military means. In Pakistan’s case, the country has faced a long-standing battle against terrorism and violent extremism, fueled by a complex interplay of regional instability, internal governance challenges, ideological radicalization, and foreign interventions.

Pakistan’s counterterrorism strategy fuses kinetic and non-kinetic approaches, epitomized in the National Action Plan (NAP) 2014.

As a frontline state in the global war on terror post-9/11, Pakistan’s counterterrorism (CT) strategy has evolved into a comprehensive and proactive posture. Pakistan’s counterterrorism policy is no doubt a holistic effort to address the roots, manifestations, and consequences of terrorism. This is a product of sustained resolve for ‘peace within and beyond’ etched in the human security prism.

Pakistan’s role versus terrorism has multiple strands: Partner (WOT), Facilitator of Peace Negotiations (US-Taliban series of dialogue); Frontline warrior, “Unsung Hero” of the Global fight against terrorism. The fact is, Pakistan has been used as a “hide out” for terrorists and recruiters’ hotspot, both for indigenous and external elements. While regional rivalries and tensions remain a reality, proactive initiatives on the home front for addressing the sources of violent extremism, ideological, political, social, cultural, religious, economic, legal, and structural, are a work in progress.

 Pakistan’s CT policy is based on the criticality of fusing kinetic and non-kinetic strands for sustainable peace.  The formulation of the National Action Plan (NAP) in 2014, following the horrific terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. The NAP outlined a 20-point agenda designed to eliminate terrorism, curb sectarianism, regulate madrassas, combat hate speech, reform the criminal justice system, and strengthen coordination between civilian and military institutions. NAP marked a significant shift toward an integrated approach, focusing not just on eliminating terrorists but also on countering extremism and preventing radicalization.

State-society partnership has emerged as the major exponent of sustaining the momentum of counter-violent extremism (CVE) and counterterrorism in real terms. Along with this, media literacy – offline and online (Social Media) are spontaneous tools of spreading awareness and resisting the glorification of extremist narratives. A number of educational reforms and legislations, especially in the context of madrassa curriculum and registration, have been adopted. However, more effort is desirable on this account.

State-society partnerships and media literacy are central to countering violent extremism and resisting extremist narratives.

In the regional context, a relentless Indian antagonism against Pakistan, reflected in maligning Pakistan as a sponsor of terrorism and being black-listed under FATF, Islamabad’s CT posture and practice continue. In contrast, credible documented evidence of global repute suggests that New Delhi has gone to great lengths to foster the growth of instability, mistrust targeting the very core of Pakistan, a negative role in the East Pakistan crises, Baluchistan insurgencies, ethnic and sectarian strife, minorities issues, and so on. Using a third country to supply weapons, training, and spreading misinformation and fake news, and so on. One can call this New Delhi’s hybrid warfare tactics, aiming to implode Pakistan from within, a self-defeating exercise.

More so, India’s baseless rhetoric and false flag operations remain a stumbling block in realizing a prosperous and peaceful region. Some of the worth-listing instances are:

• Pulwama Attack (2019): India immediately blamed Pakistan for the suicide bombing without conducting thorough investigation. Later this was questioned by the experts that pointed out multiple intelligence and security lapses within India itself.
• Balakot Airstrike Claim: In response to Pulwama, India claimed to have carried out an airstrike on a “terrorist camp” in Balakot, Pakistan. However, independent satellite imagery and international observers confirmed that the area targeted was a barren hill and no such “camp” existed. The exaggerated success of the strike was exposed when one of India’s own aircraft was shot down and its pilot captured and then returned by Pakistan as a peace gesture.
• EU DisinfoLab Report (2020): A massive exposé by EU DisinfoLab uncovered a network of over 750 fake media outlets and NGOs created by India to malign Pakistan internationally and influence decision-makers at the UN and EU. This campaign, operating for 15 years, used identity theft and fake news to create a false narrative of Pakistan as a sponsor of terrorism.
• Kulgam and Uri Incidents: Similar to Pulwama, India often leverages local incidents to label Pakistan without solid evidence. These accusations serve domestic political agendas and deflect attention from internal issues such as the Kashmir dispute and rising Hindu extremism.

All these demonstrate how India’s double game and disinfo-rituals not only damage diplomatic ties but also detract from genuine regional counterterrorism efforts. Pakistan has repeatedly called for impartial investigations, third-party mediation, and greater transparency to avoid escalation based on propaganda. India’s stated principle of non-interference is increasingly viewed as a strategic myth rather than a diplomatic principle. For Pakistan, the evidence of Indian meddling in its security matters, whether through espionage, proxies, disinformation, or regional destabilization, is too substantial to ignore.

India’s hybrid warfare tactics, disinformation campaigns, and false-flag operations undermine regional counterterrorism cooperation.

India’s actions not only erode trust but undermine any possibility of peace in South Asia. If regional stability is to be achieved, there must be an end to covert interference under the guise of diplomatic civility, and the international community must apply uniform standards to concerned sides.

Likewise, Afghanistan-Pakistan border remains a tense frontier, exploited by groups like ISIS-K and TTP. The state’s response is increasingly focused on, peace negotiations with the Kabul regime, effective border management, supporting regional diplomacy – involving China, and encouraging Pak-Afghan trade essential for economic survival of border regions. Islamabad continues to urge global stakeholders to play a constructive role in stabilizing Afghanistan and ensuring it does not become a sanctuary for transnational terrorists. Here, recently concluded Islamabad-Washington dialogues centered on dealing terrorism jointly also testifies Pakistan’s critical role in the global counter-terrorism architecture. This also testifies that Islamabad’s well-conceived CT posture to be a partner of peace be it west or east is the most viable peace-pathway.

Global cooperation and sharing of best practices remains constant strand of Pakistan’s holistic CT strive. Islamabad has actively engaged with regional and international associations and states (SCO, China, IMCTC, OIC) to undertake CT joint trainings, share intelligence, track transnational threats, and combat terrorist financing. Pakistan’s commitment to complying with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations is a testament to its effort to align domestic laws with global standards. By improving its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-financing of terrorism (CFT) frameworks, Pakistan has demonstrated a willingness to integrate into the global security architecture.

Pakistan actively aligns with global CT frameworks (FATF, SCO, OIC, IMCTC) while urging regional peace forums for sustainable stability.

In crux, Pakistan’s counterterrorism policy has come a long way from a learning curve to a more inclusive, multidimensional approach. Countering terrorism is essentially a “Team Work” between state and society – Islamabad remains committed to this. Though, kinetic forces remain a critical line of defense, it is the focus on the ideological, legal, economic, and social facets that informs the CT policy as a holistic one. Sustained regional peace forums, peace lobbies, state-to-state positive interaction, and resilience holds the key to ensuring that terrorism is defeated and barred from resurfacing in future. Pakistan’s counterterrorism is no doubt a holistic strive that continues to be introspected and updated in the face of fast- mutating terrorism threat.

The author is a Professor of Defence & Strategic Studies at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.