WASHINGTON, Jan 17: The US State Department confirmed on Tuesday that Islamabad had asked Washington not to send its special envoy Marc Grossman to Pakistan for consultation on exploratory talks with the Taliban.
The confirmation of a Washington Post report came hours before Pakistan’s new ambassador, Sherry Rehman, was to meet US President Barack Obama to present her credentials.
Mr Grossman is consulting US allies in the greater Middle East region on a move to involve the Taliban in the Afghan reconciliation process.
“We received word that the Pakistani government felt that it would be best to wait until this parliamentary review is concluded,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a briefing in Washington.
The development indicates further deterioration in a relationship which has continued to decline at a regular pace since the May 2 US raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad.
The decline became rapid after the Nov. 26 Nato raid on a Pakistani military post that killed 24 soldiers.
Mr Toner, however, emphasised that Pakistan continued to have “a central role” in the Afghan reconciliation process despite the challenges the two sides had faced in the past months.
“I don’t think it has changed,” said Mr Toner when asked if the US position on Pakistan having a central role in the process had changed.
“There is no other solution here but to work through our differences, Pakistan absolutely has a central part in the Afghan reconciliation process.”
At the State Department briefing, journalists pointed out that Pakistan is imposing new restrictions on Nato supplies to Afghanistan.
They noted that at a meeting of the cabinet’s defence coordination committee, Pakistan once again demanded an apology from the US over the Nov 26 raid, insisting that mere regrets, expressed in an official US report on the incident, were not enough.
The committee also has decided to levy some new taxes on Nato supplies and is introducing a new customs clearance mechanism, the journalist said. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani both attended the meeting.
“As far as I’m aware, this so-called parliamentary review is still underway. I can’t really speak to any of the assertions that you’ve just raised,” said Mr Toner when asked to comment on these developments.
“I’m not aware of customs regulations regarding Nato supplies. I believe that the parliamentary review is still ongoing, so we’ll wait and see the outcome of that,” he added.
Commenting on Pakistan’s demand for an apology, Mr Toner said: “We’ve been very clear since this report was done following the Nov. 26th incident, expressing our regret, our condolences, our sympathies to the Pakistani people, pledging to work more cooperatively with the Pakistani military to ensure that these kinds of incidents don’t happen in the future.”
Another journalist pointed out that Pakistan did not seem inclined to abide by new US and EU sanctions on financial dealings with Iran.
“My reaction is, we’re engaged with all our partners and allies about this new legislation regarding the Central Bank of Iran.
We’re going to continue to talk to folks as we move forward. This is a process. We’re trying to encourage governments around the world to decrease their ties to Iranian petroleum and to the Central Bank of Iran. And those talks are ongoing,” said Mr Toner.
The State Department official said that Amb. Grossman had already visited Ankara and Riyadh to discuss the Afghan reconciliation process with Saudi and Turkish officials and would also visit Afghanistan.
When a reporter asked if Mr Grossman would also meet Taliban officials during this visit, Mr Toner said he would check “and see what I can get for you”.
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