NIPD was established to bring rigorous, field‑tested research into the policymaking process — and to open that process to public dialogue.
To close the distance between evidence and decision — in security, governance, technology and the environment.
The National Institute for Policy & Dialogue (NIPD) is an Islamabad‑based, independent policy institute. We exist because Pakistan's hardest problems — from counter‑terrorism coordination to climate‑driven water stress — rarely fail for lack of expertise. They fail because that expertise arrives too late, too narrow, or too disconnected from the people who must implement the decision.
NIPD's five research centres are staffed by analysts who have worked inside the institutions they now study — alongside academics, technologists and field researchers. Every publication is reviewed for rigour before it is reviewed for readability, and every major report is preceded by a seminar or roundtable that tests the argument against practitioners and, where appropriate, the public.
We are structured to remain non‑partisan: our board draws from across the security, academic, private‑sector and civil‑society spectrum, and no single funding source determines our research agenda.
Every report passes through internal peer review and, for major publications, external review by subject‑matter practitioners.
Research is tested in seminar rooms with the officials, communities and experts it concerns before it is published.
Our governance and funding are structured to keep the institute's output independent of any single political interest.
Every brief closes with implementable options, sized to the authority of the office that will act on them.
“Every centre we run is judged by one test: does it change what a policymaker does on Monday morning.” — Fareed Ahmed Khan Kakar
Fareed Ahmed Khan Kakar is the Director General of NIPD and a distinguished public policy scholar, strategic analyst and former media executive, whose expertise centres on national security dynamics, counter‑terrorism, narrative management and strategic minerals development.
A career built across policy research, national security scholarship and strategic media leadership.
Fareed Ahmed Khan Kakar is the Director General of the National Institute for Policy and Dialogue (NIPD) and a distinguished public policy scholar, strategic analyst, and former media executive whose expertise centers on national security dynamics, counter‑terrorism, narrative management, and strategic minerals development.
Alongside his executive leadership at NIPD, he serves as a Research Associate (PPS‑07) at the Centre of Excellence for the China‑Pakistan Economic Corridor (CoE‑CPEC), a project of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives executed by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE).
Previously building an extensive media career as Chief Operating Officer of DBTV Live, Director of Content Development at JNN News HD, and Editor‑in‑Chief of Pak Magazine, Mr. Kakar remains an active public intellectual who contributes regular policy columns to major national newspapers and appears frequently as a geopolitical and security expert on television current affairs broadcasts.
National Defence University (NDU) — research focused on national security architectures and digital narrative shaping.
National Institute of Intelligence & Security Studies (NIISS), Quaid‑i‑Azam University.
National Defence University (NDU).
Bahria University.
Centre of Excellence for the China‑Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE).
Chief Operating Officer, overseeing broadcast strategy and operations.
Led content development across the network's news programming.
Directed editorial strategy and publication content.
"A policy institute succeeds not just on its research, but on how reliably it runs — every partnership, publication and event has to work." — Syeda Noor Ul Ain Gilani
Syeda Noor Ul Ain Gilani is the Executive Director of the National Institute for Policy and Dialogue (NIPD) and a dynamic media executive, public policy researcher, and marketing strategist with extensive experience across broadcast management and commercial sales. Alongside her leadership at NIPD — where she drives institutional operations and strategic programming — she contributes her expertise as a sales expert at Motives, leveraging deep market research and consumer behavior insights to shape brand positioning and commercial growth.
Board members serve in a purely honorary capacity, drawing on deep domain expertise to guide research direction and set priorities within their respective advisory areas ahead of each publication cycle.
Each center is led by a Center Director and staffed by Senior Fellow, Fellow, Associate and Junior Analysts, supported by a shared operations team.
NIPD is established in Islamabad with an initial mandate covering national security and governance research.
The institute launches its Narrative Warfare, AI & Digital Transformation, and Climate & Energy Security centres.
NIPD fields its first nationally representative policy‑perception survey across all provinces.
A standing board of external experts is convened to review research quality and set long‑range priorities.