December 08, 2008	Monday	Zilhaj 9, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Dec 7: After remaining dormant for almost a decade, the Defence Committee of the Cabinet will meet here on Monday to discuss security situation against the backdrop of Pakistan-India tension.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani will preside over the meeting, which will be attended by the defence minister, foreign minister, adviser to the prime minister on interior, three services chiefs and chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

The DCC was made functional after the prime minister disbanded the National Security Council (NSC) last week.

Leader of the House in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani told Dawn on Sunday that the act under which the NSC worked still needed to be repealed.

He said that with the revival of the DCC another promise made in the Charter of Democracy had been honoured by the government.

The committee, Mr Rabbani said, would work under rules of business of the cabinet.

Sources said the government also intended to set up a separate secretariat of the DCC.

The most significant meeting of the DCC was held after nuclear tests conducted by India in May 1998.