Frustrated at Pakistan’s denial to reopen NATO supplies, US President Barack Obama has avoided an intended meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari on sidelines of a summit on Afghanistan in Chicago.
Pakistan had sought an unconditional apology and immediate release of stuck-up coalition support fund (CFS) to reopen NATO supplies blocked after unprovoked Salala attack that had killed score of Pakistani troops. Besides congressional blockades to release of funds to Pakistan, Obama Administration considers tendering an apology could cost in the coming US election.
Thus President Obama and his Pakistani counterparts staying is at loggerheads have marred the success of the Nato Summit that also surfaced conflicting views within the alliance on the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan.
According to the New York Times, a deal to reopen the supply lines fell apart as Obama began talks on ending the NATO alliance’s combat role in Afghanistan in 2013, a year earlier than the announced withdrawal schedule of 2014. As a two-day NATO summit meeting opened in Chicago, Obama remained at loggerheads with Zardari, refusing even to meet him without a deal on the supply routes, which officials in both sides acknowledged would not be coming soon, it said.
But White House Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said that President Obama could not meet Zardari as he had a “full slate of summit meetings to attend.” “The two bilateral meetings really, that he did, are President (Hamid) Karzai for obvious reasons given the focus on Afghanistan here, and the Secretary General of NATO given that it’s traditional for the host to make sure that we’re aligned with the Secretary General heading to the summit. “But we don’t anticipate any other bilateral meetings so we didn’t draw that linkage. We’re going to continue to work through the issue with the Pakistanis,” he said. Zardari did, however, meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss the supply routes. According to the daily, the failure to strike a deal on the supply routes ahead of the summit injects new tension into the relationship.
“When Nato extended the invitation, we thought it would move the Pakistanis off the dime,” a senior American official was quoted as saying. Without the deal, “it’s going to be really uncomfortable” for Zardari at the summit, which runs through Monday, the official told NYT.
But President Obama refused to meet his Pakistani counterpart, with one US official telling The Times: “Patience with Pakistan is wearing thin, not just in the US but also in the Nato alliance.”
The official added that they were still expecting the “log jam of Nato convoys in Pakistan after this weekend”, forcing the US to use alternative routes – namely through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
After weeks of closed-door negotiations with Zardari’s government, US officials did not deny that they are seeking to send the Pakistanis a public message, The Los Angeles Times said.
“If they’re feeling a little bit of pressure this weekend, they should,” a US official was quoted as saying.
Glad Obama can see that Zardari is an ass who doesnt care one bit about regional peace.
the main responsibility is of defence forces who have created this situation. Civilian leadership is so weak that it cannot choose to roll back the policies initiated by security agencies, however wrong they may be. Pakistan's media, rightist elements, and the opposition hell-bent on replacing the present rulers who already are black-mailed by their allies whose strings are being pulled by" powerfull sections of establishemt" to rein in any independent action that the democratic leadership may take, will not allow any solid step to improve the regional situation.
Bravo to AAZ for standing up and resisting the US pressure
AAZ is not in a position to take the decision of re opening NATO supply route on his own unless supported by Mian Nawaz Sharif. In Pakistan's interest Mr Nawaz Sharif must fully support AAZ.
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