Pakistan hints it’s time to ‘move on’ beyond Salala

In a clear indication that Pakistan was close to reopening blocked NATO supplies, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Monday said Islamabad had made a point by keeping these routes closed for months and now it was time to “move on” in relations with the United States.
“We have sought an apology from the United States as was demanded by the parliament. This issue was raised with US at all levels. We have made a point by keeping closed the NATO supplies for months and now it is time to move on in relations with the US,” Khar said while addressing a joint press conference with Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira. This latest and clear indication by foreign minister about the NATO supplies’ reopening has come at a time when the US has still to apologize publicly for the Salala attack in which the NATO planes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November in Mohmand Agency.
However, it seems that Islamabad has dropped insistence on this demand after the US refused to oblige Pakistan on this count. The government has convened a crucial meeting of the Defense Committee of Cabinet (DCC) today (Tuesday) and it is expected that Pakistan would come up with a formal announcement on the NATO supplies’ reopening after the meeting, either on the same day or later this week. Pakistan’s top civilian and military leaders including the president, prime minister, army chief, foreign, defense, interior and finance ministers and ISI chief and some other senior officials also discussed the NATO supplies and other issues with the US at an important meeting at the Presidency on Monday. The reopening of NATO supplies will also pave the way for Pakistan’s participation in the Chicago Summit of NATO member states slated for May 20-21 as the NATO leadership has linked participation to the reopening of supply routes for its forces stationed in Afghanistan.
As a part of a new deal on NATO supplies, Pakistan will start levying taxes on NATO trucks, containers and oil tankers crossing its borders in Khyber Agency and Balochistan into Afghanistan. At the press conference, Khar said, “We want to play a role of a facilitator and enabler as far as peace and stability in Afghanistan is concerned.” She said Pakistan had never charged its allies in war on terror for using its land routes for their supplies. She said talks with US on NATO supplies and other matters were moving on a positive note and both Pakistan and its allies in NATO wanted peace in the region. “We want to bring the relations with US to the positive zone and it is hoped that it shall be done,” she said. To a query on no halt to drone strikes by the US, the information minister said Pakistan had always opposed the attacks and had dubbed them counterproductive.
“However, it is also significant that the opposition to these drone attacks is more in Islamabad and Lahore as compared to FATA,” Kaira said. The joint press conference of Foreign Minister Khar and Information Minister Kaira was to brief the media on the recently concluded visit of Prime Minister Gilani to the UK, but journalists asked more questions about the possible reopening of NATO supplies, except a few queries on the UK visit, despite repeated requests by the ministers to remain confined to the topic. The ministers said the prime minister’s visit to the UK was very successful in terms of its outcome, while rejecting the notion that it was a useless trip that was carried out at the huge expense of Pakistani taxpayers’ money.