ISLAMABAD, Jan 24: The ministry of foreign affairs on Friday summoned US ambassador Nancy Powell to explain her remarks accusing Pakistan of infiltration across the Line of Control.

The ambassador’s remarks were made in a speech at Karachi on Thursday.

Additional foreign secretary Aneesuddin Ahmed took up the issue with Ms Powell when she visited the foreign office on Friday evening, just before the end of working hours.

“Ambassador Powell was told that what she had said was inappropriate and that it was not in keeping with the Pakistan-US relationship,” said sources in the know of the meeting. These sources said that the ambassador was reminded that pledges were made on both sides and not just by Pakistan as she chose to mention in her statement the previous day.

The US envoy had said in her speech: “The government of Pakistan must ensure its pledges are implemented to prevent infiltration across the Line of Control and end the use of Pakistan as a platform for terrorism.”

A two-paragraph statement issued by the Foreign Office spokesman late on Friday evening said that Aneesuddin Ahmed at his meeting with the US ambassador discussed her speech in Karachi. “Pakistan’s position regarding the LoC was reiterated, namely, that there was no infiltration on the LoC. Pakistan had taken all measures not to allow any infiltration,” said the Foreign Office spokesman.

The US ambassador was informed during the meeting that Pakistan had repeatedly called for the deployment of UN observers on both sides of the LoC to verify Indian allegations of infiltration. According to the statement, it was made clear to Ms Powell that Pakistan stood by its commitment to the international community and in the same spirit Pakistan expected the international community to fulfil its commitments for the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

Meanwhile, sections within the Pakistan establishment and government have been surprised, angered and shocked by the US ambassador’s statement which they described as “highly damaging”.

Government officials privately admitted that the remarks by the US envoy were totally unexpected. “Yes, this is something one did not expect as it is not in line with the spirit and progress of the ongoing cooperation between the US and Pakistan,” said a close aide of President Pervez Musharraf.

“Her statement on cross-border infiltration is uncalled-for and she had no business making such a statement in Pakistan,” said an agitated official who suspected that the US envoy had instructions from Washington.

“It came as a total shock to us because the ambassador has been very supportive of our policies and has never raised this issue before,” said a high-ranking government official.

However, a senior official at the foreign secretary’s office did not find the US envoy’s statement all that alarming. He argued that the ambassador had merely reiterated what the US had been saying all along. “There was no new statement that would have constituted a review of US policy towards Pakistan,” he maintained.

A senior American diplomat at the US embassy in Islamabad had a similar view. “There is no new or radical departure from the US policy towards Pakistan and what the US envoy said regarding the LoC infiltration was a reiteration of President Pervez Musharraf’s Jan 12, 2002 speech,” he said when contacted by Dawn on Friday.

Meanwhile, observers were rather intrigued by the timing of the US ambassador’s statement. A former Pakistani diplomat and a respected foreign policy expert, who requested anonymity, said the statement was “quite ominous” and it served the Indian purpose of coercive diplomacy. “We need to be very vigilant and careful,” he cautioned, pointing to the growing US-India strategic partnership and the fact that the US required India’s support in preparing itself for the inevitability of an attack on Iraq. “India is in an advantageous position and the Americans have to satisfy the Indians to fulfil their objectives. Simply put, India wants a prize for it, he explained.

“It is a time for calm determination and strong nerves,” observed the former Pakistani diplomat.