Pakistan has no space to accept US pressure: Analyst
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has no further space to receive US pressure for any new operation in the tribal areas as its geo-strategic conditions doesn’t allow it to do more, said well-known defence analyst Brigadier (Retd)Mehmood Shah.
Talking to Online on Monday, Brigadier Mehmood Shah, also former security chief of FATA, said that Pakistani military was stretched inside the country and it could not ignore its eastern border.
“Pakistan wanted to withdraw its forces from Dir and Swat but attacks from Afghanistan’s border side delayed the plan,” he said, adding that any new adventure for Pakistan was not possible from defence point of view as it had to keep part of its force as reserve.
The expert further said that the US had announced its plan of withdrawing forces from Afghanistan and as stated until 2014 it may complete its process of withdrawal. He said that the future situation of Afghanistan was difficult to be visualised at the stage and Pakistan could never ignore the coming days.
Shah was of the view that the Afghanistan situation would only affect Pakistan and, therefore, Pakistan was not in the position to decide things easily.
“In such a complex situation blaming or threatening Pakistan is not wisdom, as such a behaviour can only retrain relations among Afghanistan, Pakistan, US that are counterproductive for establishing peace in the region and eradicating terrorism,” Shah said.
Criticising the US policies for tackling the issue of insecurity, the analyst said Washington strategy in the war is wrong from the very beginning as extended talks for peace after military action was necessary. And “talks are held for ending violence” and if there is no problem in a situation that dialogue is not needed, he stressed.
US remain selective in holding talks and it also want to continue operation along with dialogue and when the opposite forces clash with them (Americans) then it blames others.
Commenting on the solution of the issues in the region and Afghanistan, Shah said that ‘patience’ was needed as far as US, Pakistan, Afghanistan were concerned and within Afghanistan US must announce that it was ready to end war if Taliban also did the same.
Both the US and Taliban are claiming defeat of each other in the war that has been continuing for more than 10 years, he pointed out.
So US applies its own conditions and Taliban their own for ending the fight and Washington wants to hold talks with one group but not with other group of the militants, he concluded.
ONLINE - International News Network
