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| Mullen arrives amid growing tensions |
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008
WASHINGTON: Top US military commander Admiral Mike Mullen arrived in Pakistan on an unannounced visit on Tuesday to discuss operations under way on the Afghanistan frontier with Pakistan’s leaders, the Pentagon said. —Agencies
Mazhar Tufail adds from Islamabad: Top US military commander Admiral Mike Mullen reaches Pakistan as tensions between the two allies in the war on terror culminated after Pakistan asserted its right to defend its borders against any foreign incursion.
Sources said the government of Pakistan would lodge a protest with the top US military commander over the recent violations of its territorial boundary by Afghanistan-based foreign troops.
It will be the second meeting between Army chief General Kayani and Admiral Mullen in less than three weeks as the two met aboard the US Abraham Lincoln in the Indian Ocean on Aug 26.
The Pakistan Army chief recently issued a stern warning against foreign intervention. Pakistani military officials downplayed a US wire report, which quoted a senior ISPR official as saying fresh orders had been issued to the troops to open fire on foreign forces trying to violate Pakistan's sovereignty. They said no new orders had been issued but the standing instructions to all troops at the border were to defend the country if anyone came with aggressive designs.
"The top American military commander will hold meetings with civilian and military leaders of the country to discuss bilateral cooperation in the war on terror," said a senior government official, wishing not to be identified.
The official said the civil and military leadership of Pakistan would make it clear to the US commander that only Pakistani security forces would take action on Pakistani soil and that foreign troops would never be allowed to take any action on the pretext of so-called hot pursuit.
He said the US commander would hold separate meetings with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar as well as Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Tariq Majeed and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
"The US commander will be told by both the civil and military leadership that Angoor Adda-like incidents will not be accepted and if any such action took place in the future, the aggressors will be paid in the same coin," the official said. "There is complete unanimity of views between the civil and military leaders on this issue," he added.
Military sources also confirmed that the US commander would be clearly told about repercussions of any action by foreign troops on Pakistani soil. They said Admiral Mullen would be told that Pakistan's armed forces would retaliate with full force against any cross-border strikes in the future.
The sources said that the military leaders had completed their homework for meeting the US top commander. They said he would be told that the mechanism of intelligence sharing at the tripartite commission level should be further improved and information provided by Pakistan should be trusted. They said the US commander would be asked if the allied troops in Afghanistan get any information from other sources, and if so they should convey it to their Pakistani counterparts so that action could be taken by the Pakistani troops.
"The US commander will be informed that no important al-Qaeda or Taliban leader is present in Pakistan's tribal region and if the US-led Nato troops have any information in this regard, they must share it with Pakistan so the Pakistani security forces could take necessary action," the sources said.
"Admiral Mullen will be given a detailed briefing on the ongoing military operation in the tribal areas and will be informed about casualties on both sides," they added.
The sources said there was no change in the stance of the new Pakistani leadership on the war on terror but the violation of Pakistan's territorial boundaries by the US-led Nato troops was neither in the interest of the US and Pakistan nor would they serve any purpose in the war. Rather, they stressed, such actions could complicate the situation, jeopardising the ongoing cooperation between the US and Pakistan.
When asked for comments, a federal minister, on condition of anonymity, said there was no justification of any action by foreign troops on Pakistani soil because Pakistan was a sovereign state and it could not allow foreign troops to operate in its territory.
"We have come to power with the support of the people of Pakistan and it is obvious that we cannot afford to take any step against their aspirations. They are simmering with anger after the recent attacks by the US-led foreign troops and unmanned aerial vehicles," he added.
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