ISLAMABAD: The government has called a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on National Security (CCNS) for Thursday.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has convened a meeting on National Security on April 17 (Thursday) at his official residence,” Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

The news about the previously undisclosed meeting coincided with the Taliban announcement of not extending the 40-day `ceasefire’.

Formed last August, CCNS is the highest civil-military coordination forum on matters of national security and defence.

The top security body is headed by the prime minister and has foreign, defence, interior and finance ministers; Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff and the three services chiefs as its members. The official statement said information minister and heads of spy outfits – ISI and IB – would also be attending the meeting.

Apart from TTP decision on ending its version of ‘ceasefire’, recent civil-military tensions would form the background of the discussions at the second meeting of CCNS – the first this year.

While the agenda of the meeting is not known publicly, a source familiar with preparations said the agenda was quite expansive, but discussions on internal security and elections in Afghanistan would dominate the proceedings.

The civil-military tiff that made headlines and dominated the electrifying TV talk show circuit since Army Chief Gen Raheel’s public vow last week at the SSG Base near Tarbela of protecting “dignity and institutional pride” is unlikely to be discussed at the forum, but would definitely shape the atmospherics of the session.

Observers believe that much of the tensions between political and military leadership have already subsided as they point towards Army’s invitation for Prime Minister Sharif to be the chief guest at the passing out parade at Pakistan Military Kakul on Saturday (April 19).

Sharif would be accompanied by his defence minister Khawaja Asif, whose comments caused the army-government unease to go public. Moreover, the prime minister is planning a bit longer stay at the academy to show his ‘deference’ for the Army.

TALIBAN: Although the Taliban statement on calling off their ceasefire came almost at the same time as the announcement of the National Security meeting, the government knew about what was coming up. Intelligence agencies had already tipped about the militant designs.

Prime Minister Sharif’s national security aides would, therefore, be sharing their ideas about responding to the TTP move, the source said.

The meeting would take a stock of the Karachi Operation that is now into seventh month.