If the idea was to seek an end to the drone attacks, ISI DGs meeting with the CIA Chief in Langley ended up in total failure. This raises a number of questions. Was the issue of drone strikes at all on Pashas agenda? If so, did the General demand a complete end to drone attacks or he only sought prior consultation with the ISI? The attack in South Waziristan on Wednesday indicates that either the issue was not taken up at all by or the other side simply refused to oblige. The General was also supposed to seek reduction in the number of CIA operatives in Pakistan. A report in Washington Times on Wednesday maintains the agency has not been asked to pull any of its employees out of Pakistan. The General was also supposed to ask for a cut in the number of US military trainers suspected of spying. If the State Departments deputy spokesman is to be believed the trainers were invited by Pakistan itself, the implication being that Islamabad could have asked for their recall if it so wished.
Everything about the visit remains murky except that it was a disappointment, as the drone attack would indicate. Who decided to send a military general instead of a civilian official, more accomplished in the art of diplomacy? What was the mandate given to Lt Gen Pasha and by whom? The questions are all the more relevant as the visit, instead of bridging the differences, has led to a widening of the gulf. The process of pulling out US troops from Afghanistan is to begin in July this year. Unless there is a joint effort to put an end to al Qaeda and its affiliates, Pakistan would have to deal with the terrorists on its own in the days to come.
Gilani assured the NA on Wednesday that he had asked friendly countries to exert diplomatic pressure on the US to end the drone strikes. He failed to mention any country with enough clout to be able to exert pressure on Washington. Instead of depending on other countries, the government has to take up the challenge itself. The matter should be taken out of the hands of the generals. Instead, DG ISI should be asked to give a briefing on his mission to the NA. Subsequently, the assembly should debate all the aspects of the matter and take a joint stand telling the US not to go beyond a well-defined red line over drone attacks and spying inside the country.
