Just as a senior security official on Thursday said Pakistan expected to reopen supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan but would impose tariffs, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told Reuters that ties between the US and Pakistan were still on hold over a NATO cross-border air attack and Washington should not push Islamabad to go after militant groups, including the Haqqani network, or bring them to any Afghan peace process.
The official said the fees were designed to both express continued anger over the November 26 attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and raise funds for the state to fight militants blamed for many of the suicide bombings across the country. “The tariffs will cover everything from the port to security to roads, which after all belong to Pakistan,” the security official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters. No date was given for reopening the supply routes. The official said the Trade and Commerce Ministry was working out details of the tariffs. Asked if the reopening was a sign that the crisis in relations could be tackled, the official said there was some way to go before normalcy was possible.
No re-engagement: Meanwhile, Hina said, “Now that the re-evaluation process is underway as we speak, so till the time that that re-evaluation process in not complete, we cannot start the re-engagement.” “I would say they (ties) are conveniently on hold until we start re-engaging,” she said in an interview. The US has long sought Pakistani cooperation in tackling the Haqqani network as Pakistan argues that the US needs to be patient and gain a greater understanding of the region’s complexities before acting, and that pressure would only hurt efforts to pacify Afghanistan. “‘Push’ is never wise. I think that every country must be allowed to develop their own strategy and their own timing,” Hina said.
Talks falter: Meanwhile, the talks with Taliban have made little headway, a senior security official said on Thursday, after the Taliban flatly rejected a demand that they work through tribal elders to reach a deal whereby fighters approach authorities and lay down their arms. “They felt it would be humiliating. The talks are not making progress,” the official said. “If they want to be included in the political system, that is what they will have to do.”
