The sixteenth meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Monday condemned in strong terms the terrorist attack on the Bethel Memorial Methodist Church in Quetta, in which nine people were killed.

The committee termed the attack to be "against the fundamental tenets of peace and tolerance taught by Islam", read a statement issued after the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in Islamabad.

Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, National Security Adviser (NSA) Nasser Khan Janjua, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat, Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman and senior civil and military officials attended the meeting.

The committee directed NSA Janjua to finalise the national security policy at the earliest after consulting all stakeholders.

At least nine members of the Christian community lost their lives and 56 suffered injuries in the suicide and gun attack claimed by the militant Islamic State group.

One of the two bombers blew himself up outside the door of the church’s main hall, where hundreds of worshipers, including women and children, had gathered for Sunday Mass. The other suicide bomber was killed in a shootout with police near the main gate of the church.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua briefed the committee on an emergency summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Council of Foreign Ministers Meetings on Al Quds held in Istanbul last week following US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announcement to shift the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The meeting stressed that Pakistan cannot accept unilateral decisions taken by the Trump administration regarding Jerusalem's status and it will "continue to impress upon the United States its moral and political responsibility towards a just and fair resolution of the issue, and the need to revoke the steps taken".

The establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state remains a major objective of the Muslim Ummah, it emphasised.

The NSC reviewed the rapidly evolving security situation in Middle East and developments in Pakistan’s relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Iran.

Pakistan will intensify its efforts to work for the unity of the Muslim Ummah, the committee concluded.

The interior secretary briefed the meeting on the progress made on each of the 20 points of the National Action Plan, which was drafted after the Peshawar Army Public School attack.

The committee observed that while "fair progress" has been made in the plan's implementation, certain areas, such as policy and institutional reform, need more commitment and attention.