Pakistan on Tuesday offered the United States that it could facilitate negotiations between Washington and the Haqqani network in a bid to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan. This latest offer to the US has surfaced following “positive” signals from the Americans for normalising the relations between the two countries that got strained with statements from the outgoing top general, Admiral Mike Mullen. For months Pakistan has been urging the US for a peace dialogue with the Haqqani network but this suggestion has so far been turned down by the US, as the White House renewed demands for an operation against the Haqqanis on Tuesday.
A Pakistani official requesting anonymity said, “Pakistan has, however, refused to launch an operation in North Waziristan and has rather proposed to the US through diplomatic channels that it could still facilitate a meaningful dialogue between Washington and the Haqqani network which will lead to the restoration of peace and stability in Afghanistan.”As a positive gesture, US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman made a phone call to Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani and said that the differences over the Haqqani network would not be allowed to affect bilateral ties. In a related development, US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter met Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir for the second time in two days at the Foreign Office to discuss ways to bridge the gulf between the two states. In a late night development, Munter also called on President Asif Zardari and discussed with him ways to defuse the
tension between the two countries, a private TV channel reported.
“Pakistan has also sought the help of Saudi Arabia and China to resolve the current row with the United States, and Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Meng Jianzhu has assured Pakistan’s political and military leadership that Beijing would do whatever it could to resolve the row between Pakistan and the US,” the official said. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said that Pakistan had made “important contributions in the international fight against terrorism”.
He said, “China understands and supports Pakistan formulating and implementing its counter-terrorism strategy based on its national conditions.”
Meanwhile in a meeting with her Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi at the United Nations on Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly urged Beijing to open a dialogue with Washington on Pakistan.
“We have stated this before, but there’s clearly an urgency given recent developments and also given the close relationship that exists between Pakistan and China,” a US State Department official said in a briefing to reporters.
Another Pakistani official said that the nature of stalemate with the US was very serious and it would be naïve to expect that tensions would be gone soon.
“However, with the help of friendly states like China it is hoped that the process of de-escalation would gain momentum in coming days and will help Islamabad and Washington to resolve their confronting issues such as that on Haqqanis,” he said.
Pakistan can bring Haqqanis to the table, US told
