Official angle: Pakistan's Domestic Affairs — Security, 20 Marks

Background

• Azm-e-Istehkam ("Resolve for Stability") is the comprehensive national counter-terrorism drive approved by the Apex Committee/NSC in mid-2024, conceived as a successor and consolidator of the earlier National Action Plan (2014) and Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, in response to a sharp resurgence of TTP and Baloch-militant violence after 2021.
• Multi-pronged design: kinetic operations, socio-economic development in affected areas, de-radicalization, and border-management/diplomatic pressure on Afghanistan.

Current Status (2026)

• Operations continue on a rolling basis in KP's tribal districts (North/South Waziristan, Bajaur, Khyber) and, in coordination with provincial forces, in Balochistan, alongside intelligence-based operations (IBOs) rather than one large single offensive.
• Military reports periodic militant casualty figures under Azm-e-Istehkam-linked IBOs; independent verification remains difficult given the remoteness of operational areas.
• Political consensus has been uneven — opposition parties and some provincial governments (notably KP's PTI government) have at times resisted or sought consultation on the operation's scope, citing concerns about renewed displacement (echoing the 2009–2014 IDP crises).
• Pakistan-Afghanistan relations have deteriorated over TTP sanctuaries, with periodic border closures/skirmishes through 2025–26 layered on top of the counter-terrorism campaign.

Key Debates

• Kinetic-only vs comprehensive approach: critics argue development and de-radicalization components lag behind military operations.
• Federal-provincial coordination gaps, especially where KP's provincial government is politically opposed to the federal government.

CSS Exam Angle

Use as the current-affairs anchor for any "rising terrorism in Pakistan" or "NAP effectiveness" question — evaluate against the earlier NAP's 20 points for continuity/change.

Expanded Material for a Full 20-Mark Answer

Introduction (write-up)

Azm-e-Istehkam ("Resolve for Stability") represents Pakistan's most recent comprehensive attempt to consolidate over a decade of fragmented counter-terrorism policy — succeeding the 2014 National Action Plan and Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad — into a unified national framework combining kinetic operations, socio-economic development, and diplomatic pressure in response to the sharp post-2021 resurgence of TTP and allied militancy.

Additional Dimensions

• Historical continuity: trace the lineage — Operation Zarb-e-Azb (2014, post-APS Peshawar attack) → National Action Plan (2014, 20-point framework) → Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad (2017, nationwide) → Azm-e-Istehkam (2024, current framework) — showing this is an evolution, not a standalone initiative, which examiners reward as evidence of historical grounding.
• Multi-pronged design distinguishing it from earlier operations: explicitly combines kinetic operations with de-radicalization, border management, and diplomatic engagement with Afghanistan — a broader "comprehensive security" framing consistent with Pakistan's 2022 National Security Policy philosophy (geoeconomics/human security alongside traditional security).