Snubbing all those who had inferred that an understanding had been reached between President Asif Ali Zardari and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani on the ‘memo’ issue and the situation had diffused after their telephonic conversation, the General Headquarters (GHQ) on Monday reacted to such attributions with the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issuing a statement to rubbish the impression that the developments over the last three days were an outcome of the telephonic contact between the army chief and the president.
“Some events of the last 72 hours are being attributed to the telephonic conversation between the president and the COAS and the meeting between the prime minister and the COAS held on December 16,” the ISPR said, adding that the prime minister had already spoken on the subject in which he stated that “during the meeting with the COAS on Friday night, I (the prime minister) received a telephonic call from the president by chance. When I informed the president that I was having a meeting with the army chief, he asked me to convey his regards to General Kayani. On this, the COAS showed his desire to speak to the president.”
The ISPR said the telephonic conversation between the president and the COAS lasted approximately one minute in which the latter enquired about the health of the president. “Hence, attributing anything more to this telephonic conversation is unfounded and unnecessary,” the statement said, clearly saying that it was a one-minute conversation.
What is significant in the statement is the mention of one-minute duration to explain that no significant and important matter could have been discussed in such a short conversation except the COAS enquiring about the health of the president. “As regards the meeting between the COAS and the prime minister, a comprehensive press release has already been issued by the PM’s House which is unambiguous,” the statement said.