Chicago summit: General Allen plays down urgency of NATO deal
Top commander in Afghanistan says agreement could take ‘days or even weeks’.
CHICAGO:
General John Allen, the top Nato commander in Afghanistan, would not be disappointed if a long-sought agreement with Pakistan on supply routes failed to materialise by the end of the Nato summit in Chicago on Monday.
In an interview with Reuters, Allen said he was confident a deal would eventually be struck but “whether it’s in days or weeks, I don’t know.”
Many Obama administration officials had hoped for an agreement with Islamabad in time for the Sunday-Monday summit that would end a nearly six-month ban prohibiting trucks in Pakistan from carrying supplies to Nato forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
Islamabad cut off the ground supply routes after a Nato air strike in November killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, causing a rift with the United States and forcing Nato commanders to look to alternative, most costly routes to supply the war effort.
Asked if he would be disappointed if Pakistan - whose president will attend the summit - didn’t strike an agreement before the end of the Chicago talks, Allen said: “No.”
“I don’t need the (ground supply lines) to be open to support the campaign. But they’re helpful to us in sending home our equipment,” Allen said.
“We don’t want an agreement fast, we want an agreement that’s right. So we’re going to take the time to get it right.”
‘Unacceptable’ demand
On the other hand, a senior US official told AFP Sunday that US-Pakistani talks on reopening Nato supply routes have faltered over Islamabad’s “unacceptable” demand to charge steep fees for trucks crossing the border.
Pakistan also has failed to present a coherent, consistent position in the negotiations, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The US official said “to some extent it’s something the Pakistanis will have to work out themselves.”
“Inside the Pakistani government, they need a consolidated proposal for what to put on the table.”
The official confirmed that Pakistan has proposed an exponential increase in fees, from the current rate of about $250 per truck to “thousands of dollars.”
“That’s, in a word, unacceptable,” he said, adding that there would be a resolution soon but it will take a little more work.
Asked if the United States was willing to consider a dramatic hike in border fees, the official said: “Not when seven or eight months ago we were paying a small fraction of that figure.”
Meanwhile, US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes shared General Allen’s optimism about an agreement on reopening Nato supply routes but said the US is not expecting the deal to be completed over the Nato summit weekend.
Speaking to reporters en route to Chicago, Rhodes, according to a press pool report, said that there was no bilateral meeting scheduled between President Asif Ali Zardari and US President Barack Obama. He went on to add that the only bilateral meeting the US president had scheduled is with the Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
According to the pool report, Rhodes said that negotiations for reopening the supply lines are ongoing. “We believe this is going to be resolved. We expect that to take some time. Based on the statements they’ve made, the negotiations going on, we believe it’s going to be accomplished. We’re not anticipating necessarily closing out those negotiations this weekend.” AGENCIES
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2012.
General John Allen, the top Nato commander in Afghanistan, would not be disappointed if a long-sought agreement with Pakistan on supply routes failed to materialise by the end of the Nato summit in Chicago on Monday.
In an interview with Reuters, Allen said he was confident a deal would eventually be struck but “whether it’s in days or weeks, I don’t know.”
Many Obama administration officials had hoped for an agreement with Islamabad in time for the Sunday-Monday summit that would end a nearly six-month ban prohibiting trucks in Pakistan from carrying supplies to Nato forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
Islamabad cut off the ground supply routes after a Nato air strike in November killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, causing a rift with the United States and forcing Nato commanders to look to alternative, most costly routes to supply the war effort.
Asked if he would be disappointed if Pakistan - whose president will attend the summit - didn’t strike an agreement before the end of the Chicago talks, Allen said: “No.”
“I don’t need the (ground supply lines) to be open to support the campaign. But they’re helpful to us in sending home our equipment,” Allen said.
“We don’t want an agreement fast, we want an agreement that’s right. So we’re going to take the time to get it right.”
‘Unacceptable’ demand
On the other hand, a senior US official told AFP Sunday that US-Pakistani talks on reopening Nato supply routes have faltered over Islamabad’s “unacceptable” demand to charge steep fees for trucks crossing the border.
Pakistan also has failed to present a coherent, consistent position in the negotiations, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The US official said “to some extent it’s something the Pakistanis will have to work out themselves.”
“Inside the Pakistani government, they need a consolidated proposal for what to put on the table.”
The official confirmed that Pakistan has proposed an exponential increase in fees, from the current rate of about $250 per truck to “thousands of dollars.”
“That’s, in a word, unacceptable,” he said, adding that there would be a resolution soon but it will take a little more work.
Asked if the United States was willing to consider a dramatic hike in border fees, the official said: “Not when seven or eight months ago we were paying a small fraction of that figure.”
Meanwhile, US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes shared General Allen’s optimism about an agreement on reopening Nato supply routes but said the US is not expecting the deal to be completed over the Nato summit weekend.
Speaking to reporters en route to Chicago, Rhodes, according to a press pool report, said that there was no bilateral meeting scheduled between President Asif Ali Zardari and US President Barack Obama. He went on to add that the only bilateral meeting the US president had scheduled is with the Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
According to the pool report, Rhodes said that negotiations for reopening the supply lines are ongoing. “We believe this is going to be resolved. We expect that to take some time. Based on the statements they’ve made, the negotiations going on, we believe it’s going to be accomplished. We’re not anticipating necessarily closing out those negotiations this weekend.” AGENCIES
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2012.