Pakistan PM: 'We Won't Be Pressured by US' to Address Militancy
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, has said that Pakistan will not cave in to U.S. pressure to address militancy in his country.
The prime minister stressed in a meeting with religious and political parties that relations between the two countries should be primarily based upon mutual respect.
Gilani's statement comes on the heels of a comments made last week by a top U.S. official about Pakistan that said “all options are on the table” if the Pakistani military does not cut its ties with the Haqqani network of anti-U.S. insurgents.
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The Haqqani network is an independent insurgent group that has close ties with the Taliban. The group is based along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The U.S. perceives the network as the “most resilient enemy network” in the region and one of its biggest threats.
Gilani told members in a meeting in Islamabad, “The blame game should end, and Pakistan’s sensitive national interests should be respected.”
Furthermore, Gilani said that Pakistan was united over any threat to its sovereignty and said that, “Pakistan cannot be pressured to do more.”
With U.S. leaders making accusations that Pakistan’s military is linked to terrorist groups, relations between the two countries have soured.
Recently, America’s topmost military commander, Adm. Mike Mullen, said that the Haqqani terror network is a “veritable arm” of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
Mullen told Nation Public Radio, “The ISI specifically has enough support for the Haqqani’s in terms of financial support, logistic support and actually, sort of free passage in the safe haven and those links are part of what enables the Haqqani’s to carry out their mission.”
Gilani responded to the comments saying, “American statements shocked us, and negate our sacrifices and successes in the ongoing war against terror.”
The White House has distanced itself from Mullen’s comments, refusing to endorse the criticism.
However, the comments have clearly infuriated Pakistani authorities and they “mark a new low” in relations between U.S. and Pakistan and are also causing some concern in Pakistan that the U.S. is threatening war.
Nevertheless, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to stress that both the United States and Pakistan must continue to “work together” in the war on terror.
