ISLAMABAD: Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen’s visit to Islamabad may have eased some of the tensions, but clearly many of the contentious issues, including differences over the Haqqani network and drone attacks, persist. Significant challenges remained in the relationship and he and Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani brought those up in their meeting, Admiral Mullen said after the meeting.

Ahead of his dinner meeting with Gen Kayani, the US admiral accused the ISI of retaining links with the Haqqani network, thus setting a tough tone for the dialogue.

Neither side disclosed the specifics of the Wednesday night meeting which continued well into early hours of Thursday.

Although after the meeting Admiral Mullen told journalists travelling with him that the military-to-military ties remained strong and appreciated Pakistan army’s tough fight against militants, he frankly said: “Still, not all is brightness and light.” The admiral, in a twitter posting, himself noted that he visited Islamabad for reiterating that “continued cooperation between US and Pakistani militaries is critical to our strategy”.

Although Admiral Mullen has talked about continuing challenges in the relationship, a military source insisted that there were also some positives to be noted: “The meeting continued for over four yours and the two commanders looked relaxed as they came out exchanging pleasantries.”

The wording of ISPR statement issued after the meeting also appeared to suggest the same. It was being expected that after Admiral Mullen’s allegations about the ISI, there would be strong reaction. However, that wasn’t to be.

The statement only spoke about Gen Kayani rejecting the “negative propaganda of Pakistan not doing enough and Pakistan Army’s lack of clarity on the way forward”. It was very clear from the phraseology that it wasn’t a rejoinder to Admiral Mullen’s comments, rather it was about the White House’s semi-annual report which alleged that Pakistan lacked a clear strategy to defeat insurgency.

Significant indeed was the commitment of both the commanders to underscore “the centrality of reciprocal respect towards each other’s sovereignty, upholding of universal principle of value of human life and above all the long-sought-after goal of addressing trust deficit between the institutions as well as the people on both the sides”.