ISLAMABAD: Reacting to US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen’s outburst, Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has not only rejected his allegations of using the Haqqani network for waging a proxy war in Afghanistan but also pointed out that several countries were engaged with the militant group.
A rejoinder issued by the ISPR on Friday quoted Gen Kayani as having said that Admiral Mullen’s statement was “very unfortunate and not based on facts”.
But significantly embedded within the brief rejoinder was an unspoken acknowledgment that Haqqanis were crucial for reconciliation in Afghanistan and, therefore, a number of countries, including Pakistan, maintained contact with them.
“Admiral Mullen knows fully well which countries are in contact with the Haqqanis. Singling out Pakistan is neither fair nor productive,” the army chief said.
A military official disclosed in a background conversation that the United States and a number of European countries had been talking to the Haqqanis for reconciliation. During some recent contacts, he said, Pakistan had made it clear to the US that its engagement with the Haqqani network should not be misconstrued as one meant to undermine American interests in Afghanistan.
“We worked with them for positive objectives which could have been useful for all stakeholders in the Afghan end-game,” he stressed.
Gen Kayani, the ISPR handout said, found Admiral Mullen’s diatribe disturbing because his prolonged meeting with the latter in Spain last week was “rather constructive”.
The military official said there was nothing of this sort (finger pointing) in their meeting held on the sidelines of a Nato conference, rather they had deliberated on the way forward in their soured ties, constraints in relationship, withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan and the role of various stakeholders.
Contrary to his assertion, a US official, speaking to Dawn from Washington, claimed that what was now being publicly said had been conveyed personally to Gen Kayani in Seville (Spain).
The US has been accusing Pakistan for long of supporting the Haqqani network and been exerting pressure on the government and army to act against the group.
But Admiral Mullen’s latest rant was the most serious criticism of Pakistan, its army and ISI ever since Islamabad and Washington allied in the war on terror in 2001, accusing them of being complicit with the militant group in attacks on US installations in Afghanistan.
The military official said the deteriorating ties hit a low point because of lack of clarity about the roadmap for political process in Afghanistan and the roles envisaged for various stakeholders. “We kept asking them about the role for various stakeholders, but nothing was said.”
And as the ISPR said that Gen Kayani had expressed the hope that “the blame game will give way to a constructive and meaningful engagement for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan, an objective to which Pakistan is fully committed”, the official said it was absurd and illogical to think that Pakistan was averse to peace in Afghanistan.
A source close to the army chief divulged that Gen Kayani was particularly troubled by the allegations because these came from a person (Mullen) who was thought to be a friend of Pakistan and someone who still cherished his relationship with his Pakistani interlocutors.
Admiral Mullen, who visited Pakistan 27 times over the past four years, said at a public event in Washington on Sept 21 that he had developed “a very close relationship” with Gen Kayani, which helped move Pakistan beyond its distrust of the US.
The source used a Shakespearean quote “the (most) unkindest cut of all” to express the feelings of admiral’s Pakistani friends after his farewell tirade.
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