ISLAMABAD: A seasonal thaw in frosty Pakistan-US relations may be round the corner, thanks to backdoor efforts currently under way, sources say.
The ties between the two allies in the war on terror plummeted after the US-led Nato troops attacked Pakistani border check posts on November 26. The two sides, since then, have made hectic behind-the-scene efforts to defuse the tension. The sticking point at the moment is the reluctance on the part of the US to accept complete responsibility for the Nato airstrikes, official sources told The Express Tribune.
Last week, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha went to Doha to meet US military and intelligence officials and convey Pakistan’s concerns over the findings of the US probe.
While the US inquiry places major blame on Nato, its findings say Pakistani soldiers fired first. “The US needs to accept its mistake instead of sharing the blame,” said a Pakistani military official. He said the army was analysing the US report and is expected to issue its detailed response after the corps commanders meeting in the next few days.
The US, through back channels, has hinted at coming up with a clear stance on the Nato attacks in order to pacify resentment in Pakistan, the official said. If Washington does accept the major responsibility and offers a public apology, it will help normalise the situation, the official added.
Meanwhile, the government has decided to send its new envoy to Washington ahead of schedule, said a Foreign Office official. When approached, Ambassador-designate Sherry Rehman confirmed that she is leaving for Washington this week.
In another indication of cooling of temperatures, Islamabad opted not to react to the fresh move by Washington to freeze about $850 million in aid to Pakistan.
Pakistan was purportedly assured by the US that the assistance would continue, despite linking aid with the government taking steps against improvised explosive devices.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2012.
COMMENTS (16)
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@Harry Stone: Stop repeating what CNN feeds you day in day out, thats far from truth and will always get your vision blurry for seeing the truth out there.
@Gabriel: I see you want to persist in continuing the narrative of the PAK military and ISI which seems to be deeply ingrained in the psyche of the citizens of PAK.
@Paki-Australian: how does post conflict Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan look like, we dont want pakistan to look the same. US doesnt help any one get nowhere. Stop fooling yourself and others.
@Harry Stone: with all due respect sir those two check posts were established after a successful operation against talibans. The purpose of these posts were to check taliban movement across border and these posts were fulfilling the purpose more then anticipated. NATO destroyed them to clear way for taliban to move across the border freely. i hope you do know that there are talibans who are sponsored by US and NATO and talibans who are sponsored by Pakistan. its a proxy war and lets not pretend we dont know these facts by now, its been 10 years for crying out loud.
PAK has no interest in finding the truth in this incident. If they were they would have joined the NATO investigation. If they disagreed with the final report they could have written a minority report stating where they felt the report was wrong.
Instead the PAK military rejected the NATO report out of hand playing to a national audience in an effort to repair their reputation for failing to find OBL.
What no one in PAK has answered is why would NATO intentionally attack this outpost? What would NATO gain? Then again no one in PAK has even asked the question.
The cause of this incident has been the growing mistrust between NATO, US and PAK. This did not just happen with this one incident. NATO did not inform PAK of its operation with good cause. PAK soldiers very probably fired first and greater fire was brought to bear on them.
The only part of the report that seems to be in continuation is that PAK soldiers fired first. The reason for this is again an effort to both repair the reputation of the PAK military and to extend the narrative about how PAK is fighting terrorism.
Whatever happens going forward, whatever statements made, the goodwill and trust between PAK and NATO has been revocable broken.
Despite mutual efforts to thaw ties, the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan will remain frosty for a while.
.....well, I suppose self respect, national pride, holding the moral high ground, all have to take a back seat as obviously some higher principles are being invoked.
Cautious : Do u really think that Abbotabad commission report will see the light of the day
its good news indeed.
US is an ally! PK needs friends. Let's drop the attitude and fight the common foe - the terrorists that use Islam as a brand name.
PK people need jobs, stability & security, US will help us get their.
I guess Pakistan Government is immune to some deadly waves of Suicide Bombings that would result is such 'Thawing' of relationship ...
US urgently needs the services of Pakistan for atleast for two years more and theirafter most likely cold shoulder it. Pakistan can extract extra mileage from US during this period.
Wait until your Abbottabad Commission report comes out - whatever thawing in the relations won't stand up to the American public outrage at the duplicity and collective denial/amnesia of Pakistani's.
You sense that this time the relationship might have crossed the point of no return. We don't know what effect it will have. But from now the Pakistani military will have to depend on Chinese equipment.