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Gates in Pakistan to Discuss New Strikes on Taliban
Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates is to discuss with Pakistani leaders whether their army might begin an offensive against Pakistan-based Taliban who attack U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
Gates, in his first visit for almost three years, signaled he’ll encourage Pakistan to extend the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda after what he called its “very successful military operations” that have broken up a major Taliban haven in the tribal region of South Waziristan. A Pakistani army spokesman said any new offensive is probably at least six months off.
“We have heard about plans to move into” North Waziristan later this year, Gates told reporters today aboard his plane from New Delhi, where he spent two days meeting Indian leaders. “I’d like to explore those with them.”
Pakistan’s army entered South Waziristan in October, ousting Taliban of the Mehsud tribe, which the government blamed for 80 percent of terrorist attacks in the country. In North Waziristan, a Taliban faction headed by commander Jalaluddin Haqqani fights NATO troops in Afghanistan.
No new offensive is imminent, said Pakistan’s military spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas. “We want to stabilize and consolidate the operations that we have embarked on before taking on new ones,” Abbas told reporters in Islamabad, the capital. “I think we are talking about six months to a year,” before Pakistan would begin any new operation, he said.
Helicopters Sought
Abbas said Pakistan needs more transport and attack helicopters and surveillance equipment to aid its fight.
Pakistan’s willingness and ability to control militants targeting India also is pivotal for regional stability. Gates said he might ask the government “if there are some ways that they have in mind that will help lessen” tensions.
India snapped peace talks with Pakistan after the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai by 10 Pakistani gunmen India says belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group. Both countries have nuclear weapons.
Gates said yesterday in New Delhi that Islamists working under “the umbrella of al-Qaeda” want to destabilize the entire South Asian region by provoking a conflict between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars and smaller conflicts since independence from British rule in 1947.
U.S. Assistance
In a sign of its long-term commitment, Gates said the U.S. is working on a new “multi-year military funding program” for Pakistan, without giving further details. Last year, Congress and President Barack Obama approved a bill to provide $1.5 billion a year in economic aid to the country.
That law requires a cutoff of aid if Pakistan fails to provide civilian control of its military, cooperate with the U.S. on counter-terrorism, protect its nuclear arsenal and enforce international nuclear non-proliferation rules. Those conditions triggered accusations from opposition politicians and Pakistan’s military of interference in the country’s internal affairs.
Such conditions on U.S. aid evoke bitter memories in Pakistan of the 1990s, when the so-called Pressler amendment forced a halt to most U.S. aid because of evidence that Pakistan was developing nuclear weapons. The cutoff in U.S. military aid hampered American efforts to influence Pakistan’s powerful armed forces, and led many Pakistani leaders to call the U.S. an unreliable ally.
Anti-Americanism
Anti-Americanism is another topic on Gates’ radar. The U.S. is concerned about visa restrictions for U.S. officials visiting the country and the harassment of Americans, Gates said.
The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan complained publicly on Jan. 7 that Pakistani authorities had harassed and detained embassy personnel in “contrived incidents” as they traveled around the country. Diplomats also have faced delays in approvals for visas and visa extensions, the Associated Press said.
Al-Qaeda leaders are believed to have holed up in ungoverned tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border since the U.S. toppled the group’s Taliban protectors in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Obama last year ordered 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to battle the Taliban insurgency.
Gates arrived in Pakistan for his first trip since February 2007 as the government reached an agreement to hand back responsibility for maintaining order in the longtime Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan to tribal leaders after a three- month military offensive.
Security Pact
Elders from the Mehsud tribe, which dominates the area, endorsed a government proposal yesterday with a unanimous show of hands at a gathering in Tank, the tribal agency’s winter capital. The two sides plan to sign the agreement on Feb. 10, a pact that may also pave the way for an eventual military withdrawal.
U.S. officials have criticized such deals in the past, saying they haven’t been effective in ending violence or turning back the advance of militant extremism. Gates said he had not heard about yesterday’s accord.
The U.S. is trying to balance its rapidly expanding ties with India, the world’s largest democracy and the fastest- growing economy after China, even as the Obama administration strengthens links with Pakistan.
To contact the reporter on this story: Viola Gienger in Islamabad via vgienger@bloomberg.net .
PA is ready to stretch towards north and south , if they were given more aid,helicopters and latest equipments in other words no pay no play???????
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