ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari in an interview with The Independent has called on the United States to provide Pakistan with missiles and drone technology to target militants as opposed to conducting independent operations that violate the country’s sovereignty.
Pakistan had made it clear that it was willing to ‘take out high-value targets on our own, and we welcome the technology and intelligence assistance that will give us the ability to succeed.’ Zardari said, adding that ‘I cannot condone violations of our sovereignty even when they are done by allies and friends. We would much prefer that the US share its intelligence and give us the drones and missiles that will allow us to take care of this problem on our own.’
During the interview, President Zardari for the first time conceded that more than one of the 10 militants who carried out the Mumbai attacks may be Pakistani.
It is generally believed that despite public denials Pakistan co-operates with the US drone strikes. However, such tactics are increasingly unpopular among the Pakistani people.
‘President Obama once said that he would act if we weren’t willing and able. We certainly are willing and with international support we will become even more able,’ The Independent quoted Zardari as saying.
He also acknowledged that more than a year after elections, many Pakistanis are growing frustrated with an apparent lack of progress. ‘After a decade of dictatorship the people had enormous expectations of rapid improvement in their lives. That is still very much our priority but the enormity of the economic crisis both within Pakistan and internationally, compounded by the war that we fight within and along our borders, has made progress much slower than we hoped.’
Regarding disputes between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), he said: ‘The ups and downs of democracy should not be interpreted as a lack of stability...there is the usual tug of power politics and the tendency of some observers to paint Doomsday scenarios. But I think the people appreciate that our democratic government is functioning.’
Regarding the attacks in Mumbai, Zardari said Pakistan is co-operating with India’s investigation into the Mumbai attacks and a ‘substantial’ number of arrests had been made. He further said that elements that carried out the attacks in Mumbai are also threatening Pakistan’s ‘very existence.’ Regarding the nine dead militants from the 26/11 attacks, he said: ‘Our investigation...is continuing. Some of these terrorists may in fact have been born in Pakistan. But we believe that this operation was international, with significant support from within India itself.’
Regarding the recent talk of the imposition of sharia in Swat, he said the country’s leadership and its allies were looking at ground realities.
‘I think it would be premature to call it a bad deal. It’s an evolving situation,’ The Independent quoted Zardari as saying.
No comments:
Post a Comment