Pakistan toughens its stance, stops ‘business as usual’ with US

Hardening its stance further over Saturday’s NATO air strike that killed 24 of its soldiers, Pakistan on Monday warned the United States that it could reduce its cooperation in efforts to reconcile with the Taliban and said any apology by NATO was not enough to restore full counter-terrorism cooperation.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani warned on Monday there would be “no more business as usual” with Washington after the NATO attack. “Business as usual will not be there. We have to have something bigger that satisfies my nation and my entire country. We have to review our ties with NATO and the allied forces. This is a saturation point. We are reviewing the situation and our relationship in future with the US, NATO and ISAF,” Gilani told CNN in an exclusive interview. “You cannot win any war without the support of the masses. We need the people with us and such incidents are making people move away,” said the prime minister.
PAKISTAN REEVALUATING: Gilani told CNN that Pakistan was reevaluating its relationship with the United States. He said the nation wanted to maintain its relationship with the US as long as there was mutual respect and respect for Pakistani sovereignty. “If I can’t protect the sovereignty of my country, how can we say it is mutual respect and mutual interest?” Gilani said. He said in accordance with the wishes of the people, Pakistan’s relations with the US should be based on trust, equality and mutual benefit. “We have no other option but to accept the will of the people.”
In the interview, however, Gilani highlighted incidents such as the killing of the Pakistani troops and a US raid into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden as violations of his country’s sovereignty. Previously, he said, there was the issue of Raymond Davis and later there were accusations from Afghanistan on the killing of Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani.
“These are some of the blame games. There is no political space left for the political leadership of Pakistan and the military leadership. How can we then cooperate in this difficult situation? We are part of the solution. We are not part of the problem,” said Gilani.
He said Pakistan had always supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process but this support would not be at the cost of Pakistan’s sovereignty, as anything that harmed the sovereignty and stability of the country would not be acceptable.
The prime minister said he had referred the Mohmand Agency attack issue to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, which would deliberate and give recommendations to him. A joint session of parliament would also be convened on the issue, he added. Gilani also said Pakistan had not yet decided whether to boycott next month’s Bonn conference on the future of Afghanistan.
ISPR DG DENIES: “The NATO strike can have grave consequences for the level and extent of our cooperation,” said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj General Athar Abbas. Talking about regrets extended by NATO over the killing of Pakistani soldiers, Abbas said in a statement: “We think this is not enough and we do not accept it. Such raids have also been conducted in the past. Such attacks are unacceptable.”
Another Pakistani official said that after the Mohmand Agency attack, the US and its other NATO allies should not expect the continuation of cooperation from Pakistan in fighting terrorism and also any help from Islamabad for the success of the ongoing reconciliation between Kabul and the Taliban, which was backed by Washington.
“The US will have to tender a formal apology, assure a thorough probe, stern action against the culprits and also a firm guarantee that no such attack will be carried out in future,” he said, adding that only after that could any review of the decision to suspend NATO supplies to its forces in Afghanistan and to ask the US to vacate the Shamsi airbase within 15 days could take place. Abbas also denied reports that NATO forces in Afghanistan had come under fire from Pakistani side before they launched the attack. He said the attack lasted two hours despite warnings given to the assailants from the Pakistani border posts.
“They were contacted through the local hotline and also there had been contacts through the director general of military operations, but despite that the attack continued. At this point, NATO and Afghanistan are trying to wriggle out of the situation by offering excuses. Where are their casualties?”
He said the two military posts, named “Volcano” and “Golden”, were located on a ridge in Mohmand around 300 metres from the border with Afghanistan. He said their exact location had been provided to NATO and that the area had recently been cleared of militants.
CHINA EXPRESSES SHOCK: In what is seen as addition of a new element to Pakistan-US tensions and also a diplomatic boost for Islamabad, China expressed its shock over the NATO strike. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar spoke to Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Monday to brief him on the NATO/ISAF attacks and the decisions taken by the Defense Committee of the Cabinet on Saturday. Khar also spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and briefed him on the attack on and the subsequent decisions of the DCC. “She underscored that besides being a gross violation of established international norms, such attacks posed a threat to regional peace and stability as well,” said another statement from the Foreign Office. The Russian Foreign Minister expressed sympathy for the loss of life and said he completely understood Pakistan’s position.