Current Projects

To Kabul via Islamabad

Islamabad reemerged as the focal capital to help providing some form of a solution of the Afghan problem and this sense was further solidified by Najam Seth, Pakistan veteran journalist, on Farid Zakariya GPS on the CNN that road to the Kabul goes through Islamabad! Former president Burhanuddin Rabbani Friday (Jan7) wrapped up almost four days of consultations with Pakistani leaders to elicit cooperation for the Afghan reconciliation process with a desire for a more broad-based Pakistani representation in a reconciliation mechanism. 'It has been a successful consultative round but we need to broaden the Pakistani base for talks because it is not a Pashtoon but an Afghan-Pakistan issue,' said Rabbani, who heads the 70 member High Peace Council decreed by President Hamid Karzai. We are proposing another Pakistan-Afghan mechanism which must also involve non-Pashtoon segments of the Pakistani society, Rabbani told media, recalling that the earlier Grand Jirga ´ consultative assembly of Pashtoon tribes held at Kabul in 2007, and followed by a smaller meeting at Islamabad in 2009, mostly involved Pashtoon representatives on both sides. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) facilitated the Afghan Council Islamabad visit during which Rabbani and his colleagues met with Prime Minister Yusuf Reza Gilani, Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and several other key civilian and military officials. Later during a dinner hosted by Gilani, both countries agreed to set up a joint Commission to promote the Reconciliation process, resonating Prof. Rabbani call for broadening the Pakistani representation. The Jirga, said a diplomat, is a people ´to-people process, but the Commission will be the first formal Mechanism to address the reconciliation process. Mohammad Sadiq Khan, the Pakistani ambassador to Kabul, told FP the Commission was the major outcome of the powerful Afghan delegation visit to Islamabad. The modalities of the commission will be worked out in...

What is Around the US Defense Presence in Quetta?

Sweet and Sour Pak-US Relationship: What had appeared to be a big bilateral 'confidence-building measure' in the ongoing anti-terror war has kicked off strong reaction within Pakistan. On Wednesday ((November 24th) Pentagon informed the media in Washington about a new facility being built up in southwestern Pakistan to house US military officials. 'Pakistan Army General Headquarters recently approved a US Office of Defense Representative (ODR) and Coalition presence at the Pakistan military 12 Corps HQ in Quetta,' a Pentagon official said during a media briefing, quoting a report submitted to the Congress. On the face of it, this amounted to a big headway in the uneasy Pak-US relationship. For years, US and western intelligence community have remained seized with Quetta, which they believe the Taliban central command structure ´ commonly known as the Quetta Shura ´ uses to planits militant campaign in Afghanistan.Only days before, Pakistan had, officially,spurned a US request for extending the CIA-led drone campaign into Balochistan and its capital. The drones currently are restricted to the Waziristan region, where the Predator and Reaper unmanned planes have rained hundreds of Hellfire missiles in nearly95 strikes this year so far. US has been Eyeing Quetta for a Long Time: General Petraues, the top US commander in Afghanistan, and other NATO officialsview militants holed up inNorthWaziristan under the protection of the al-Qaeda linkedHaqqani Networkas well as the 'Taliban Quetta Shura ' as a significant source of instability in Afghanistan, where violence tripled during 2010. Although it would be naâ”œÂ»ve to believe the US thus far had no security presence there, the new facility in Quetta would provide American military, and presumably, its intelligence community formal access to areas, which they suspect, Taliban may be using for planning attacks on NATO forces inside Afghanistan. This way, a lot of pressure would be off Pakistan, which until attempted, in...

Review of the Pakistan Development Forum

What is Pakistan Development Forum? The Pakistan Development Forum (PDF), a multilateral consortium established by the World Bank to present various development projects, in Pakistan, to international lenders, was convened in Islamabad after 3 years on 14th-15th November. Delegations from 30 countries and 264 representatives from donor countries, five major lending and aid institutions participated in the meeting. US, United Kingdom and Japan confirmed minister-level participation while the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank also attended the two-day meetings. The finance minister and special US envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke held a special session on protecting the poor and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Sector Shahnaz Wazir Ali presented a social sector overview while Benazir Income Support Program Chairperson Farzana Raja briefed the meeting about the government social and income safe program. Senator Syeda Sughra Hussain Imam discussed the situation on governance and the heads of the participating delegations gave their closing remarks on Monday in the closing session. The Forum provided a platform for the donors to express their views and reservations over the handling of foreign aid and assistance. Most of the foreign participants underscored the need for structural taxation reforms in Pakistan and desired that the tax collection be more equitable and broad based to increase government revenues. Outline of the Proceedings: Provincial governments were unanimous in arguing that reforms would require huge sums of money ¶ something that a government already running a huge fiscal deficit would be unable to provide. The federal government as well as the provincial governments presented plans aimed at broadening the revenue base through aggressive taxation regime. In addition, the donor community urged the Pakistani Government to increase the Tax-to-GDP ratio and...

Global Dimension of Current Turmoil: Al Qaeda and Transitional Islamist Networks

Current Scenario Under the Executive Order 13224 the United States on Sept 1s, 2010 formally designated the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan as a foreign terrorist. Daniel Benjamin, the Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism formally announced it at a press briefing, thereby making the TTP the latest addition to a list of 47 such banned organizations.[1] Benajamin said that by implication both Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali Ur Rehman also stand designated as terrorists. 'The TTP and Al-Qaida have a symbiotic relationship. TTP draws ideological guidance from Al-Qaida while Al-Qaida relies on the TTP for safe haven in the Pashtun areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border.' This mutual cooperation gives TTP access to both Al-Qaida global terrorist network and the operational experience of its members. Given the proximity of the two groups and the nature of their relationship, TTP is a force multiplier for Al-Qaida,' Benajamin explained. This move reinforced two things: First, several Islamist militant organizations, inspired by al Qaeda, have emerged not only in Pakistan and Afghanistan but also enjoy close nexus with like-minded outfits elsewhere. The other dimension, which is equally worrying, is the shifting of the battle between Al Qaeda and the US-led western world. This battle of ideologies and cultures is rooted in the Afghan war against the Soviet Union. This war of course turned out to be a watershed and provided a new platform to militant Islamist groups from all over the Muslim world. American / Pakistani Role It is quite an irony that the American CIA which played a major role in bringing the Muslim fighters from across the world to get them trained by the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency against the Soviet Union, is currently pitched against the first and second generation of Jihadis which the Pakistani and American security establishments themselves had fostered. It primarily America versus Al Qaeda. It is also the Pakistan army versus Afghan...

Operation in North Waziristan & the End-game.

Reality of North Waziristan: When Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani arrived in Washington next week for the third round of the Strategic Dialogue, the desperate American military establishment expectedly confronted him with an ambitious wish-list for action. And Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, quickly unveiled part of that list. 'He clearly knows what our priorities areÎ“Ã‡ÂªNorth Waziristan is the epicenter of terrorism, it's where al-Qaeda lives,' Mullen said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's "Conversations with Judy Woodruff.' Mullen also revealed Kayani "has committed to me to go into North Waziristan and to root out these terrorists as well.' The US military considers the Haqqani network, led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the eldest son of veteran Afghan mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, as the primary source of violence, based in and around North Waziristan, spread over about 5000 square kilometers along the mountainous border to Afghanistan. Haqqani also shelters not only Arab Al Qaeda but also the vicious Tehreeke Taliban Pakistan, Lashkare Jhangvi, and a few splinters off the Lashkare Taiba and Jaishe Mohammad. The region is also called the hornet nest for the presence of anti-US al Qaeda-linked militant groups. The presence of the CIA-operated Chapman base in the Afghan town of Khost near North Waziristan is also meant to neutralize the Haqqani network. If what Mullen said of Kayani were true, this commitment could mean a turnaround in what Gen.Kayani, known as a cool thinking cat within Pakistan military establishment, has been peddling for months; Pakistan army itself would choose the scale and timing of any military campaign in North Waziristan, Kayani a told a group of journalists a few months ago. Operating in the NW is not an issue of the will but of the capacity for Pakistan Army. The Corps 11, responsible for the entire northwestern region, including the federally administered tribal areas (FATA) is...

Operation in North Waziristan & the End-game.

Reality of North Waziristan: When Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani arrived in Washington next week for the third round of the Strategic Dialogue, the desperate American military establishment expectedly confronted him with an ambitious wish-list for action. And Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, quickly unveiled part of that list. 'He clearly knows what our priorities areÎ“Ã‡ÂªNorth Waziristan is the epicenter of terrorism, it's where al-Qaeda lives,' Mullen said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's "Conversations with Judy Woodruff.' Mullen also revealed Kayani "has committed to me to go into North Waziristan and to root out these terrorists as well.' The US military considers the Haqqani network, led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the eldest son of veteran Afghan mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, as the primary source of violence, based in and around North Waziristan, spread over about 5000 square kilometers along the mountainous border to Afghanistan. Haqqani also shelters not only Arab Al Qaeda but also the vicious Tehreeke Taliban Pakistan, Lashkare Jhangvi, and a few splinters off the Lashkare Taiba and Jaishe Mohammad. The region is also called the hornet nest for the presence of anti-US al Qaeda-linked militant groups. The presence of the CIA-operated Chapman base in the Afghan town of Khost near North Waziristan is also meant to neutralize the Haqqani network. If what Mullen said of Kayani were true, this commitment could mean a turnaround in what Gen.Kayani, known as a cool thinking cat within Pakistan military establishment, has been peddling for months; Pakistan army itself would choose the scale and timing of any military campaign in North Waziristan, Kayani a told a group of journalists a few months ago. Operating in the NW is not an issue of the will but of the capacity for Pakistan Army. The Corps 11, responsible for the entire northwestern region, including the federally administered tribal areas (FATA) is...

Operation in North Waziristan & the End-game.

Reality of North Waziristan: When Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani arrived in Washington next week for the third round of the Strategic Dialogue, the desperate American military establishment expectedly confronted him with an ambitious wish-list for action. And Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, quickly unveiled part of that list. 'He clearly knows what our priorities areÎ“Ã‡ÂªNorth Waziristan is the epicenter of terrorism, it's where al-Qaeda lives,' Mullen said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's "Conversations with Judy Woodruff.' Mullen also revealed Kayani "has committed to me to go into North Waziristan and to root out these terrorists as well.' The US military considers the Haqqani network, led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the eldest son of veteran Afghan mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, as the primary source of violence, based in and around North Waziristan, spread over about 5000 square kilometers along the mountainous border to Afghanistan. Haqqani also shelters not only Arab Al Qaeda but also the vicious Tehreeke Taliban Pakistan, Lashkare Jhangvi, and a few splinters off the Lashkare Taiba and Jaishe Mohammad. The region is also called the hornet nest for the presence of anti-US al Qaeda-linked militant groups. The presence of the CIA-operated Chapman base in the Afghan town of Khost near North Waziristan is also meant to neutralize the Haqqani network. If what Mullen said of Kayani were true, this commitment could mean a turnaround in what Gen.Kayani, known as a cool thinking cat within Pakistan military establishment, has been peddling for months; Pakistan army itself would choose the scale and timing of any military campaign in North Waziristan, Kayani a told a group of journalists a few months ago. Operating in the NW is not an issue of the will but of the capacity for Pakistan Army. The Corps 11, responsible for the entire northwestern region, including the federally administered tribal areas (FATA) is...

The “Petraeus Factor” and Changing Pak-US Military Relations

Anatomy of 'Why NATO Supplies are Back?': Hundreds ofNATO cargo trucks and containers are back on the Pakistani roads, carrying vital military, fuel and food supplies destined for troops based in Afghanistan. These almost 2000 kilometers roads ´ between the Karachi port in the south and the northwestern and southwestern border towns Torkham and Chamman remain the key, shortest link in this crucial supply chain, comprising some 6,500 trucks. This supply chain had come to a grinding haltafter NATO Apache helicopters fired two missiles on a Pakistani security post in the Kurram tribal region on September 30, destroying the post and killing three soldiers on the spot. Pakistan reacted fiercely to the border incursion by closing down the border in the Northwest to protest both the killings and the border violation. Also, within the next few days, NATO lostalmost 130 NATO oil containers at various locations, apparently to Taliban militants, who, too,grounded their torching of the trucks and containers to NATO incursion in Pakistan. . Background interviews with a few of the most influential and senior most military commanders reveal that the altercation triggered unusually stiff opposition by the army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who took up the deaths of his soldiers with Prime Minister Yousuf Reza Gillani early October. The General Headquarter also conveyed its rejection of border infringement through the Office of the Defense Representative in the US embassy in Islamabad to Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Viewed against the hard-line that the army took on the issue of cargo supplies, it should be safe to conclude that the resumption ofthe traffic came at a relatively heavy cost, though, and quite a few ripples and ruptures in the US-Pakistan military-to-military relationship that had begun in July 2008 in the Indian Ocean. The Pivotal 'Petraeus Factor:' At the centre of this controversy stands the man who, along with Admiral Mullen,...

The "Petraeus Factor" and Changing Pak-US Military Relations

Anatomy of 'Why NATO Supplies are Back?': Hundreds ofNATO cargo trucks and containers are back on the Pakistani roads, carrying vital military, fuel and food supplies destined for troops based in Afghanistan. These almost 2000 kilometers roads ´ between the Karachi port in the south and the northwestern and southwestern border towns Torkham and Chamman remain the key, shortest link in this crucial supply chain, comprising some 6,500 trucks. This supply chain had come to a grinding haltafter NATO Apache helicopters fired two missiles on a Pakistani security post in the Kurram tribal region on September 30, destroying the post and killing three soldiers on the spot. Pakistan reacted fiercely to the border incursion by closing down the border in the Northwest to protest both the killings and the border violation. Also, within the next few days, NATO lostalmost 130 NATO oil containers at various locations, apparently to Taliban militants, who, too,grounded their torching of the trucks and containers to NATO incursion in Pakistan. . Background interviews with a few of the most influential and senior most military commanders reveal that the altercation triggered unusually stiff opposition by the army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who took up the deaths of his soldiers with Prime Minister Yousuf Reza Gillani early October. The General Headquarter also conveyed its rejection of border infringement through the Office of the Defense Representative in the US embassy in Islamabad to Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Viewed against the hard-line that the army took on the issue of cargo supplies, it should be safe to conclude that the resumption ofthe traffic came at a relatively heavy cost, though, and quite a few ripples and ruptures in the US-Pakistan military-to-military relationship that had begun in July 2008 in the Indian Ocean. The Pivotal 'Petraeus Factor:' At the centre of this controversy stands the man who, along with Admiral Mullen,...

The "Petraeus Factor" and Changing Pak-US Military Relations

Anatomy of 'Why NATO Supplies are Back?': Hundreds ofNATO cargo trucks and containers are back on the Pakistani roads, carrying vital military, fuel and food supplies destined for troops based in Afghanistan. These almost 2000 kilometers roads ´ between the Karachi port in the south and the northwestern and southwestern border towns Torkham and Chamman remain the key, shortest link in this crucial supply chain, comprising some 6,500 trucks. This supply chain had come to a grinding haltafter NATO Apache helicopters fired two missiles on a Pakistani security post in the Kurram tribal region on September 30, destroying the post and killing three soldiers on the spot. Pakistan reacted fiercely to the border incursion by closing down the border in the Northwest to protest both the killings and the border violation. Also, within the next few days, NATO lostalmost 130 NATO oil containers at various locations, apparently to Taliban militants, who, too,grounded their torching of the trucks and containers to NATO incursion in Pakistan. . Background interviews with a few of the most influential and senior most military commanders reveal that the altercation triggered unusually stiff opposition by the army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who took up the deaths of his soldiers with Prime Minister Yousuf Reza Gillani early October. The General Headquarter also conveyed its rejection of border infringement through the Office of the Defense Representative in the US embassy in Islamabad to Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Viewed against the hard-line that the army took on the issue of cargo supplies, it should be safe to conclude that the resumption ofthe traffic came at a relatively heavy cost, though, and quite a few ripples and ruptures in the US-Pakistan military-to-military relationship that had begun in July 2008 in the Indian Ocean. The Pivotal 'Petraeus Factor:' At the centre of this controversy stands the man who, along with Admiral Mullen,...