ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government will hold an in-camera meeting of the parliamentary committee on national security today despite the opposition’s boycott, local media reported on Monday, with the information minister saying this is the first time in seven decades that a government would present its national security policy before parliament.

The joint opposition had last week announced that it would boycott the meeting convened by National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Monday for a presentation by Pakistan’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Dr. Moeed Yusuf on the national security policy, the Dawn newspaper reported.

“The speaker has invited more than 50 members, including Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and senior officials of the ministries concerned to attend the meeting on one-point agenda — presentation on national security policy,” the report read.

The decision regarding the opposition’s boycott was announced by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb in a statement.

She said the decision to boycott the in-camera meeting was made because of the government’s attitude of bulldozing important draft bills in the recently held joint sitting of parliament and its “persistent authoritarian approach” on important constitutional, legal, national and security issues.

When contacted, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain regretted the opposition’s decision to boycott the national security committee’s meeting, requesting it to review it, according to the report.

He said for the first time in the past seven decades, a government was presenting its national security policy before parliament. He was of the view that the opposition should not do politics on an issue related to the country’s national security.

In response to a question, the minister said the NSA would present the national security policy with regard to external affairs and keeping in view the prevailing regional situation. This policy would then be presented before the federal cabinet for approval, he added.