All military visits to US cancelled, US officers not welcome
ISLAMABAD: Some already scheduled official visits of high-level Pakistan military delegations to the US have been cancelled while Washington, too, has been told that its military officials are not welcome in Pakistan, at least for now.
Following the US-led Nato attack on a Pakistan Army post in Mohmand Agency, killing 24 Pakistani soldiers including a major and a captain, all scheduled visits to and from the US have been cancelled by the Pakistan Army. It is also expected that the forthcoming Bonn Conference will be boycotted by Pakistan in protest.
According to military sources, a high-level delegation of Joints Headquarters was expected to leave for the US on Monday on an official visit, which has been cancelled as a sign of protest against the latest aggression, considered by many here as an act of state terrorism by the US.
These sources said that there were a few more scheduled visits to the US but those too have been cancelled and Washington has been told that Pakistani defence officials could not tour the US when the US-led Nato forces were involved in brutal killing of Pakistan Army soldiers.
The US authorities have also been conveyed that the American military delegations, which were scheduled to visit Pakistan, are not welcome here. A visiting UK military delegation, which was scheduled to play a couple of cricket matches with the Pakistan Army cricket team here, has also been snubbed. They were told that friendly matches, too, stand cancelled after the latest unfriendly and ruthless Nato attack on Pakistani soil.
With the Nato supply line already cut, the Karachi Port authorities have also been informed not to let any ship carrying Nato goods to disembark on Pakistani ports. About the Shamsi Air Base, the military sources said that the American authorities have been told to pack up and leave within a fortnight. These sources claim that the Shamsi Air Base was not presently used for drone attacks.
When asked if there was any other facility like the Shamsi Air Base that was under the use of US forces, the military source said “none”. The Shamsi Air Base has been used for drone attacks in the past. It was only recently revealed before parliament that the said air base was primarily given to the UAE, which after 9/11 offered the base to Americans for attacks on Afghanistan.
All military visits to US cancelled, US officers not welcome