Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen "” Reuters/File

 

WASHINGTON: After a secret meeting between senior US and Pakistani generals, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen told a briefing at the Pentagon on Thursday that the military-to-military relationship between the two countries was 'growing every day'.

Admiral Mullen also told the briefing he believed Pakistan's focus in the war on terror was where it should have been.

The meeting, held on Wednesday aboard US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Indian Ocean, considered various proposals for fighting extremists in Fata.

'I came away from the meeting very encouraged that the focus is where it needs to be and that the military-to-military relationship we're building with Pakistan is getting stronger every day,' said Admiral Mullen.

Other top US generals who attended the meeting included Gen David Petraeus, top US commander in Iraq, who will soon take charge of the US command for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan; Gen David McKiernan, Nato's top commander in Afghanistan; and Admiral Eric Olson, head of the US special operations command. Also present were Lt-Gen Martin Dempsey, acting commander of American forces in the Middle East, and Rear Admiral Michael LeFever, senior American military liaison to Pakistan.

The Pakistani side was represented by Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and his key commanders.

The meeting underscored the great concern both Pakistan and the US feel about the grave threat posed by a resurgent Taliban and a determined Al Qaeda to the stability and integrity of Pakistan and Afghanistan, US officials said.

The extreme secrecy surrounding the talks came amidst a series of worrying developments: continuing political turmoil in Pakistan, increasingly deadly attacks against Afghan and western targets in Afghanistan and a US top general's complaints that the Pakistani military is not doing enough to stop militants from launching attacks into Afghanistan.

Admiral Mullen said the daylong meeting was a continuation of the dialogue both Pakistan and the US had been trying to maintain about common security challenges they faced, particularly in the border regions.

'There is a growing complexity and coordination among extremist groups there, an almost syndicate-like behaviour that has resulted in new and ever more sophisticated attacks on coalition forces,' he said.

The meeting, he said, was a chance to better understand a very complex challenge in a critical part of the world and 'to try to do that through the eyes of the leadership who live and work and fight there every single day'.

Pakistani diplomatic sources in Washington, however, told Dawn that the decision to hold such a meeting was made in the US capital last month when Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani visited the White House.

During the visit, US officials repeated their complaints that Pakistan was not doing enough and that there were people in Pakistani intelligence agencies and the Frontier Corps who sympathised with the militants.

'The Americans also said that they were afraid to share intelligence with Pakistan because such data is often leaked to the militants,' said a senior Pakistani diplomat.

The prime minister, according to the sources, told the Americans that since the two militaries had dealt with each other directly in the past as well, it would be better if top generals from both sides met and sorted out their differences.

'One of the main objectives of this meeting was to rebuild trust between US and Pakistani militaries,' the diplomat said.

Admiral Mullen also emphasised similar points while talking about the meeting.

'We certainly talked about the complexity, the challenges that we have in the border area, the pressure that we believe needs to be brought there for lots of reasons, not the least of which is the effects it's having on the fight in Afghanistan,' he said.

Pakistani diplomatic sources, however, claimed that the two sides also discussed a proposal to end unilateral US military strikes in Fata, although they did not say if the Americans agreed to stop the strikes.

Admiral Mullen said the US and Pakistan were also discussing a US proposal to train Pakistani troops for fighting militants.

'That's a continuous, ongoing discussion. No big breakthroughs there. Still committed to, where we can and where they ask us, committed to help them and train them where they ask for the kind of assistance that they think they need,' he said.

US aircraft carrier - AFP/file

 

WASHINGTON: With violence worsening in Afghanistan and Pakistan, top US military officers met Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani on an aircraft carrier anchored in the Indian Ocean to discuss the deteriorating situation, AP reported.

The meeting came after several weeks of Pakistani offensives against militants in the Pakistan's volatile Northwest. Though American officials spoke in support of the operation on Thursday, they also cautioned that it was not nearly enough to stall the growing insurgency in Afghanistan.

The meeting was arranged aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, an American aircraft carrier which has been stationed in the Indian Ocean for almost a month.

This was the latest of several meetings between Kiyani and US Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

US defense officials stated that time Mullen also brought with him Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, who will soon leave to become the senior commander in the Middle East; Adm. Eric T. Olson, head of the Special Operations Command; Gen. David McKiernan, NATO's commander in Afghanistan; Lt. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, acting commander of American forces in the Middle East; and Rear Adm. Michael LeFever, American military liaison in Pakistan.

A US official familiar with the discussion told AP that Tuesday's meeting was 'more collaborative,' compared to similar meeting a month ago when Mullen took a 'more firm tone' in warning Kayani that Islamabad was not doing enough to counter militants waging cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

'This was a pre-scheduled meeting aimed at discussing security matters at strategic level. The discussion was held in an open and cordial manner,' a military statement said.

Pakistan Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas of Inter-Services Public Relations said the commanders analyzed the security situation in the region and that no new agreements were struck.

US officials declined to say what, if any, decisions had been made and only confirmed on condition of anonymity that the daylong meeting had taken place. One official said it was not prompted by any recent political or military events, but rather planning for it began during Mullen's previous meeting with Kiyani - a month ago in Pakistan.

Political turmoil has worsened in Pakistan - and violence in both Pakistan and Afghanistan - have increased since the last meeting.

Fighting between security forces and extremists has flared across the country's tribal belt resulting in close to 600 deaths in the past few weeks. Fresh attacks occurred days after Pervez Musharraf, a longtime US ally, resigned as president, triggering a scramble for power that caused the Pakistan's ruling coalition to collapse.

Pakistan's 5-month-old government initially sought to calm militant violence by holding peace talks. But US officials have been pressing for tougher action against insurgents. Pakistan's army is now fighting insurgents in at least three areas of the northwest and claims to have killed over 500 militants in the recent operation.