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WASHINGTON: Pakistan is bringing to the United States' door its complaints about the alleged involvement of India's spy agency RAW in stoking unrest in Pakistan in course of yet another round of ''strategic dialogue'' between Washington and Islamabad starting Tuesday.
Pakistan's pointman for the new salvo is the country's foreign policy advisor Sartaj Aziz, the man who said in an interview last year that Islamabad should not target terrorists who do not threaten Pakistan, and asked, ''Why should America's enemies unnecessarily become our enemies?'' An old warhorse on the well-worn India-Pakistan track, Aziz reportedly told a conference in Islamabad on Sunday -- ahead of a Pakistani delegation's trip to Washington -- that Pakistan would ''expose India at the international level for 'stoking unrest in the country'''
The ''RAW hand'' is the latest trope in what Pakistan says will be its ''name and shame'' campaign that has been energized by abstruse statements by senior Indian officials that have been interpreted provocatively. Although there have been no takers in official circles in the past for Islamabad's complaints about RAW involvement in Pakistan given the country's dismal reputation for state-sponsored terrorism (and claims of responsibility for terror acts by Pakistan's own terror groups) Pakistani mandarins arrived in Washington on Monday with a mandate to capitalize on the Indian statements.
Pakistani media reports said foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry was given a 'brief' by the government to inform the Obama administration about the alleged involvement of India in fomenting unrest in Pakistan. He is also expected to raise recent statements by India's defence and interior ministers in which they called for ''neutralizing terrorists through terrorists.''
Short of being laughed out of Washington, the Pakistani team can expect little or no hearing on the matter given its track record of harboring terrorists, including Osama bin Laden, and those who killed 160 people in the Mumbai 26/11 attack, including six American citizens. Several Pakistani nationals have been apprehended in the US and across the world in planned and thwarted terrorist attacks.
Prominent US analysts, while calling for a reappraisal of US-Pakistan ties, have repeatedly pointed out that Pakistan continues to create terrorists while fighting a selective war against others.
While a reappraisal does not seem to be on the cards given US dependency of Pakistan for its drawdown in Afghanistan, the relationship itself is going nowhere. This, notwithstanding the $1 billion bonanza in military hardware that the Pakistani military got, mainly to keep it happy with new toys and lubricate US egress from Afghanistan where Pakistan-backed terrorists have killed scores of American troops.
In fact, given that Secretary of State John Kerry has been rendered hors de combat in a cycling accident, the ''strategic dialogue'' does not appear to have any heft. It is unclear if Sartaj Aziz, who is not even a minister, will make the trip.
During his visit here last January, Aziz complained about the primacy US accorded to India, and said, ''There is a strong perception in Pakistan that while a lot of pressure is exerted on Pakistan on issues of concerns to India, our legitimate concerns are not conveyed to India with the same intensity.'' The American response: More high level visits to India - including that of the US Defense Secretary this week - even as Pakistan slides further down the precipice.
In fact, the agenda for the ''strategic dialogue'' this week includes working groups on nuclear safety and security and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), an area where Pakistan's record is dodgy despite claims to the contrary.
Foreign Secretary Chaudhry is being accompanied by Air Commodore (r) Khalid Buneri, a senior official of the Strategic Planning Division (SPD), and the delegation is expected to face close questioning given recent statements by ISIS about its plans to acquire nuclear weapons from Pakistan.
Pakistan brings RAW complaint to US - The Times of India
Pakistan's pointman for the new salvo is the country's foreign policy advisor Sartaj Aziz, the man who said in an interview last year that Islamabad should not target terrorists who do not threaten Pakistan, and asked, ''Why should America's enemies unnecessarily become our enemies?'' An old warhorse on the well-worn India-Pakistan track, Aziz reportedly told a conference in Islamabad on Sunday -- ahead of a Pakistani delegation's trip to Washington -- that Pakistan would ''expose India at the international level for 'stoking unrest in the country'''
The ''RAW hand'' is the latest trope in what Pakistan says will be its ''name and shame'' campaign that has been energized by abstruse statements by senior Indian officials that have been interpreted provocatively. Although there have been no takers in official circles in the past for Islamabad's complaints about RAW involvement in Pakistan given the country's dismal reputation for state-sponsored terrorism (and claims of responsibility for terror acts by Pakistan's own terror groups) Pakistani mandarins arrived in Washington on Monday with a mandate to capitalize on the Indian statements.
Pakistani media reports said foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry was given a 'brief' by the government to inform the Obama administration about the alleged involvement of India in fomenting unrest in Pakistan. He is also expected to raise recent statements by India's defence and interior ministers in which they called for ''neutralizing terrorists through terrorists.''
Short of being laughed out of Washington, the Pakistani team can expect little or no hearing on the matter given its track record of harboring terrorists, including Osama bin Laden, and those who killed 160 people in the Mumbai 26/11 attack, including six American citizens. Several Pakistani nationals have been apprehended in the US and across the world in planned and thwarted terrorist attacks.
Prominent US analysts, while calling for a reappraisal of US-Pakistan ties, have repeatedly pointed out that Pakistan continues to create terrorists while fighting a selective war against others.
While a reappraisal does not seem to be on the cards given US dependency of Pakistan for its drawdown in Afghanistan, the relationship itself is going nowhere. This, notwithstanding the $1 billion bonanza in military hardware that the Pakistani military got, mainly to keep it happy with new toys and lubricate US egress from Afghanistan where Pakistan-backed terrorists have killed scores of American troops.
In fact, given that Secretary of State John Kerry has been rendered hors de combat in a cycling accident, the ''strategic dialogue'' does not appear to have any heft. It is unclear if Sartaj Aziz, who is not even a minister, will make the trip.
During his visit here last January, Aziz complained about the primacy US accorded to India, and said, ''There is a strong perception in Pakistan that while a lot of pressure is exerted on Pakistan on issues of concerns to India, our legitimate concerns are not conveyed to India with the same intensity.'' The American response: More high level visits to India - including that of the US Defense Secretary this week - even as Pakistan slides further down the precipice.
In fact, the agenda for the ''strategic dialogue'' this week includes working groups on nuclear safety and security and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), an area where Pakistan's record is dodgy despite claims to the contrary.
Foreign Secretary Chaudhry is being accompanied by Air Commodore (r) Khalid Buneri, a senior official of the Strategic Planning Division (SPD), and the delegation is expected to face close questioning given recent statements by ISIS about its plans to acquire nuclear weapons from Pakistan.
Pakistan brings RAW complaint to US - The Times of India
