Pak-US ties likely to improve with ISI change

The appointment of a new director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence will create a possible opening for improved US-Pakistan relations after 15 months of tension.
Lieutenant-General Zaheer-ul-Islam, who has participated in US-based training programs, will take over as director-general of the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) after serving as the commander of the V Corps, one of the most important in the army and based in Karachi.
“It is very important at this time when the Americans and NATO troops are withdrawing from Afghanistan, it is important to have a professional man running the ISI,” military analyst Talat Masood said.
Islam takes over from Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who was appointed in 2008 and oversaw some of the stormiest times in the US-Pakistan relationship. Pasha is scheduled to retire on March 18.
A US official said that during the course of his career, Islam had “traveled to the US to participate in US military sponsored training and international fellowship programs.”
“We would expect General Zahir to continue cooperation with the United States in our mutual fight against terrorism,” the US official said.
As a brigadier, Islam attended the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 2002-2003 and had an academic year of interaction with American military officers, a US military spokesman said. The college is the army’s top educational institution for senior leaders. Analysts say the incoming director-general has held some of the most important posts in the army since his commissioning in 1977, and is seen both inside and outside the military as experienced and professional.
The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Islam was close to Gen Ashfaq Kayani and said many of his key posts in the army were focused on India. At one point, he was chief of staff of the Army’s Strategic Forces command.
Islam also has previous intelligence experience, the US official said. From 2008-10, he served as chief of the wing of ISI responsible for Pakistan’s internal security.
“(Islam) has the confidence of the people who matter,” Masood said. “The institution also needed to change; this injects new thinking and energy into the organisation.”
Others, however, believe policy within one of Pakistan’s most powerful institutions will remain unchanged and will still be directed by Kayani, the Army chief of army staff.
“The role of the ISI does not necessarily depend on an individual, but it’s a policy that is designed primarily by the army chief. I think there will be continuity of policy”, said political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi.
Either way, the appointment may be an opportunity to set a new tone in the often tense dialogue between Pakistan and the United States.
“The new person can make a new beginning because he doesn’t have the baggage of problems with the US,” Rizvi said. “So in a way, this can facilitate the improvement of the relationship.”