Military agrees to resume cooperation with US after parliament’s nod

The top brass of the country’s armed forces on Thursday approved a plan to resume cooperation with the United States in counter-terrorism war under a set of “new terms of engagement” likely to be approved by the parliament’s joint session scheduled for March 19. The decision was made during a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) held at the Joint Staff Headquarters, an official statement said. JSCS Chairman General Khalid Shameem Wynne presided over the meeting attended by the chiefs of the three armed forces, Defence secretary, the directors general of Joint Staff, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Strategic Plans Division, and other senior military officers. “The JCSC is the highest defence forum. It is held on quarterly basis to dilate upon the complete security matrix.
The forum during the current meeting reviewed the prevailing national and regional security environment and the challenges faced therein,” the statement said. “Situation on the borders was discussed threadbare and all the participants expressed satisfaction over the operational preparedness and the morale of the Armed Forces,” it added. A military official, who wished to remain anonymous, said the meeting discussed the plan to start full counter-terrorism cooperation with the US in case the “new terms of engagement” with Washington were approved by the parliament. The official said, “Under the new terms of engagement Pakistan will reopen NATO supply routes once again for US and its allies, but with some conditions such as taxes on oil tankers and containers.” He said the drone attacks would also be reduced to minimum required number by the CIA and that too in accordance with intelligence information provided by Pakistani officials. “Moreover, the CIA operatives and American military trainers would be allowed to come here but that too in very small numbers and their activities would be fully known to Pakistani authorities,” the official said.