Amid a deepening political crisis with Prime Minister Imran Khan at its epicentre, Pakistan’s national security adviser Moeed W Yusuf stepped down from his position on Monday. He resigned from the post after two and a half years in office. Tweeting about his resignation, Yusuf thanked Prime Minister Khan for “trusting him” with the job.
The outgoing NSA said he thanked PM Khan for trusting him with an “immense responsibility” and for allowing him to do justice to his role. He further said he was leaving the NSA’s office and the National Security Division as “vibrant institutions” of Pakistan. “Today, I leave extremely satisfied and content, most of all because I know that the NSA’s office and the NSD are vibrant institutions with an exceptional team that will continue to make Pakistan proud.” (sic)
He also thanked his colleagues at the Office of the National Security Adviser and the National Security Division/Strategic Policy Planning Cell. And in the same thread mentioned that he was grateful to Pakistani citizens who appreciated his work as well as critiqued him.
“Few individuals are fortunate enough to get an opportunity to serve their country in a high office. Even fewer get to do so at my age. By the grace of Allah, not only did I receive this honor, but it has been an incredible two-and-a-half-year journey that I will always cherish,” he tweeted.
Few individuals are fortunate enough to get an opportunity to serve their country in a high office. Even fewer get to do so at my age. By the grace of Allah, not only did I receive this honor, but it has been an incredible two-and-a-half-year journey that I will always cherish.— Moeed W. Yusuf (@YusufMoeed) April 4, 2022
Just a few days ago, Yusuf had briefed Pakistan’s top security body about a “formal communication of a senior official of a foreign country” to Pakistan’s ambassador in that country. Khan had chaired the 37th meeting of the National Security Committee regarding the controversial letter sent by the Pakistan ambassador in that country, which according to Khan threatened to remove him from office. The committee had decided that Pakistan will issue a strong demarche to the country in question, both in Islamabad and in the country’s capital.
Last year in August, he was embroiled in a controversy amid the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, when he allegedly warned the West that if it does not “immediately recognise” the Islamist military group, it will face a second 9/11. He later asked the British newspaper, The Sunday Times, to clarify and retract the interview to journalist Christina Lamb. The report, dated August 28, 2021, was titled ‘Work with the Taliban or repeat the horror of the 1990s’. The Pakistan High Commission in the United Kingdom has to issue the publication a formal demand for the story to be retracted and corrected.
Yusuf had also attracted criticism over his refusal to attend a conference on Afghanistan in India last year. Calling India a “spoiler”, he had told Pakistani media that the country cannot become a peacemaker. The Indian side had called it “unbecoming” of him to decline NSA Ajit Doval’s invite publicly. Yusuf had said, “I won’t go. A spoiler cannot try to become a peacemaker.”
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