OSLO: A great success for Pakistan’s diplomacy as Norway has removed Pakistan from its list of National Threat Assessment, a report said on Sunday.
National Threat Assessment (2024) report has been issued by Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), which is Norway’s national domestic intelligence and security service subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness.
The report identifies and assesses the expected threats related to intelligence sabotage, spread of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and extremism as well as threats to government officials in Norway.
The assessments are to contribute to the design of policy and strengthen political decision – making processes. This report is said to be independent assessments of Norwegian security agency without any reflection on/of Norway’s bilateral relations with the countries perceived to be posing threats.
This report is recommendatory/ warning in nature but are given significant weightage in political and administrative policy-designing and decision-making processes.
For example, Norway’s Export Control Regulations (ECRs) formulated by Ministry of Foreign Affairs take into account the security agencies’ periodic threat/risk assessments, guiding in turn Norway’s decisions about security agreements for defence equipment trade/ collaboration with other countries.
Similarly, these assessments also tacitly guide decisions of Norwegian higher education institutions for allowing knowledge sharing, technology transfer and research collaboration to nationals/ affiliates of countries from which Norway perceives threat.
Norway’s past National threat assessment reports (PST) for the year 2018, 2021, 2022 & 2023 assessed Pakistan, among other countries, as being involved in illegal procurement activities/ covert attempts for acquiring dual-use technology/ illegal transfer of knowledge from Norway to advance weapons of mass destruction.
Because of this assessment, various instances were reported by Pakistani students/ researchers of facing a tacit bar in higher education in Norway in sensitive domains. Furthermore, Indian media played upon these reports, casting proliferation related aspersions about Pakistan and projecting it in negative light as a threat posing country. However, Pakistan has achieved a great victory at diplomatic front as Norway’s has removed Pakistan from its list of National Threat Assessment.
Commenting over the recent development at the diplomatic front, the experts on foreign policy and former diplomats said that that the credit goes to Pakistan’s policy makers and diplomats for this success and termed it a significant landmark for Islamabad. They said that it is a good reply for Indian media’s narrative, that in the past projected Pakistan on this report in a very negative way. They asked for independent media and especially Pakistan media to highlight this great achievement of Pakistan’s diplomacy.
They remarked that Norway’s past National threat assessment reports had assessed Pakistan, among other nations, as being involved in illegal procurement activities/covert attempts for acquiring dual-use technology or illegal transfer of knowledge from Norway to advance weapons of mass destruction.
They were of the view that media’s role for projecting the country’s positive image is very vital and Pakistani media and independent media should make an effort to highlight this report and also acknowledged the efforts of Pakistani policy makers and diplomats to remove Pakistan from Norway’s list of National Threat Assessment. They remarked that it demonstrated that Pakistan is a peace-loving nation and always supports peace initiatives across the world. They hoped that Pakistan will go leaps and bounds at all fronts particularly diplomacy.
