The top US military commander, Admiral Mike Mullen, vowed to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty, apparently in an effort to play down the tiff between Pakistan and the United States over US air and ground attacks inside Pakistan’s territory.
"Admiral Mullen reiterated the US commitment to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty and to develop further US-Pakistan cooperation and coordination on these critical issues that challenge the security and well-being of the people of both countries," announced the US Embassy in an official statement following Mullen’s separate meetings with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani here on Wednesday.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen air-dashed to Pakistan on Tuesday night to ease the controversy over unilateral US attacks inside Pakistan ostensibly on terrorist hideouts, though these attacks resulted in the killing of innocent people, including women and children.
The Mullen Military Mission (MMM) has gained added importance as one of the most significant strategic visits, which was preceded by his threatening statement about carrying out military operations inside Pakistan against terrorists.
The US carried out strikes inside Pakistan, and Pakistan’s leadership, both military and civil, announced that these strikes were more than a case of violating its sovereignty and, as such, these would not go unnoticed.
The US Embassy termed the talks "extremely frank, positive and constructive". The embassy statement was more or less a cover-up for the embarrassment Mullen had met in his interaction, as he faced angry Pakistani leaders, insiders say.
"The Pakistani leaders reviewed the progress of Pakistan’s efforts to combat militancy, violence and terrorism," said the statement.
The Mullen mission arrived in Pakistan soon after President Asif Ali Zardari met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London. Zardari took the principled position that no foreign force would be allowed to launch an attack inside Pakistan.
"Admiral Mullen appreciated the positive role that Pakistan is playing in the war on terror and pledged continued US support to Pakistan," said the statement.
Following the talks, the US launched another missile attack inside Pakistan. This shows that the US would continue with these attacks without prior information to Pakistan.
Highly-placed diplomatic sources told The News on condition of anonymity that Prime Minister Gilani left the meeting with the visiting US admiral after making it clear to him that Pakistan cannot go along with the changed US policy.
He told the visitors that Pakistan was successfully distinguishing between the militants and tribal people but the US attacks are bringing them back together by attacking on the basis of flawed intelligence.
People in the area have started supporting action taken by Pakistan but unfortunately the US attacks are compelling them to change their minds.
The US admiral assured the Pakistani side that the US political leadership would be briefed about Pakistan’s position and subsequently an announcement would come from Washington. The prime minister was assisted by COAS General Kayani, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Adviser to the PM on Interior Rehman Malik, Adviser on National Security (NSA) Major General (retd) Mehmood Ali Durrani, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Defence Secretary Kamran Rasool while the US CJCS was assisted by his commanders and US Ambassador to Pakistan Ms Anne W Patterson. Prime Minister Gilani reportedly asked the US admiral that Washington has been loudly talking of friendship with Pakistan throughout but its attitude demonstrates that it does not have trust in Pakistan and ‘there is no room for mistrust in friendship’. He assured the US delegation that Pakistan is fighting against militancy considering it as its own war. He was of the view that Pakistan cannot be indifferent to the war against terror being fought in Afghanistan.
The prime minister reminded the admiral of his statement containing threats and questioned him that if the position that has been adopted by the US in that statement is being maintained why this visit is taking place.
There were some anxious moments in the meeting but the situation was saved by the host delegation’s senior members. Gilani left the meeting entrusting the job to the senior officials and the US admiral had to agree to issue the statement that was acceptable to the hosts.
Later, Prime Minister Gilani drove to the Presidency immediate after hearing about the attack in the tribal areas and discussed the situation with President Asif Zardari. The prime minister briefed the president about the interaction with the US commanders and the president shared his account of his visit to the United Kingdom. The president was satisfied with the outcome of his UK visit although it was a private trip.
The US CJCS avoided meeting his counterpart General Tariq Majid who was present in Rawalpindi in the morning because the General talked tough when Mullen and Nato commander met him last time.
Online adds: During the meeting between Admiral Mullen and General Kayani at the GHQ, Rawalpindi, the Pakistani side lodged a protest with the top US military commander over the recent violations of its territorial boundary by the Afghanistan-based foreign troops and made it clear that no more violations would be tolerated and the sovereignty and integrity of the country would be protected at all costs.
General Kayani said there is no agreement or understanding between the two countries which allows the US to carry out attacks inside Pakistani territory.
He made it clear that it was the sole authority of the Pakistan Army to fight militants inside its territorial boundaries. General Kayani further said Angoor Adda-like incidents would affect the ongoing cooperation between the US and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, US embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said Admiral Mullen wanted to improve coordination and cooperation with the Pakistani military.
"Admiral Mullen has worked to forge a closer relationship and he wants to continue the relationship building," said Lou Fintor.
Asked about Pakistani anger over cross-border US strikes, Fintor said Mullen "recognised the concerns expressed by General Kayani and desires to continue the dialogue."
"The United States is committed to working with Pakistan to eliminate the safe havens," he said.
AFP adds: Ahead of the Mullen-Kayani talks, DG ISPR Major General Athar Abbas said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s policy of defending its borders was very clear.
"We have repeatedly said we will defend our territory and we reserve the right to retaliate in case of any aggression," Abbas told AFP.
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