ISLAMABAD, April 25: Coming at a time when efforts for repairing tense Pakistan-US military to military ties have swung into top gear, ISAF Commander Gen David Petraeus' sixth visit to Islamabad had an air of mystery around it.
The US embassy, in a statement on the visit, said Gen Petraeus was here on Monday to meet Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and discuss “topics of mutual interest and ways to improve regional security”.But what made this meeting peculiar was the uncommon venue. This time the two commanders did not meet at the General Headquarters. Their meeting instead took place at Chaklala airbase, according to Western diplomatic sources.
A senior Pakistani military official said Gen Petraeus had a 'short and crisp' discussion with Gen Kayani at the airbase.
Prying eyes at the heavily guarded airbase then saw both commanders board an aircraft and leave for an unknown destination.
Although the US embassy statement on the visit was sketchy, it interestingly noted the personal rapport between Gen Kayani and Gen Petraeus.
“He has long-established relationships with General Kayani and the Pakistani military from his time as the US Central Command commander.”
The ISAF commander's visit was the fourth high profile US military visit to Islamabad this month, and the third in less than seven days, for meeting Gen Kayani.
Centcom Commander Gen James Mattis flew into Islamabad on April 7 to listen to Pakistani commanders' grievances. Then came Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, brandishing the stick and accusing the ISI of continuing links with the Haqqani network.
A day later the US Chief of Army Staff, Gen Martin Dempsey, landed here for continuing the engagement for putting back on track soldierly ties that were once thought to be a source of strength for the strategic partnership.
At what stage are military discussions for ridding irritants, which look to be difficult to remove, is definitely a million dollar question, whose answer is known only to top military generals in Washington, Islamabad and Kabul, but the way things shape up in coming days would give a rough indication of where this relationship is headed.
Observers recalled it was Gen Kayani's secret meeting at a secluded Omanese luxury beach with American commanders at the end of February that had set the stage for CIA-ISI parleys leading to the release of CIA operative Raymond Davis.
The next pointer in this voyage to normalcy in ties would most likely be the visit of Special Af-Pak envoy Marc Grossman in the next few days.
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