Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the headquarters of the National Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Centre (NIFTAC) on Tuesday.

PM Shehbaz was accompanied by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Army Chief Asim Munir, Naval Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf, and Air Chief ACM Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and DG ISI Lt General Asim Malik.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, NIFTAC will ‘serve as the central node for coordinating Pakistan’s national counterterrorism strategy’.

NIFTAC is a federal institution which will integrate over 50 relevant federal and provincial departments and agencies into a unified intelligence and threat management architecture supported by a centralized national database, according to PMO.

By establishing the new institution, the government hopes to ‘harmonize intelligence gathering, analysis, and operational responses’. This will lead to better preparation and responses to terrorism.

According to the statement, PM Shehbaz said that “dismantling the nexus between terrorism, illicit networks, and external sponsorship requires robust and efficient institutional mechanisms.”

The inauguration came hours after PM Shehbaz visited the ISI headquarters and reaffirmed that any Indian aggression will be given a resolute response.