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‘Pakistan cannot afford sanctions’

* Defence secy tells Senate panel success in terror war impossible without US help
* Drones guard border with Pakistan’s consent

By Tahir Niaz

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s credit rating is nearing bankruptcy and its economy cannot afford sanctions by the world powers, Defence Secretary Kamran Rasool told the Senate standing committee on Defence in a briefing on Tuesday.

Pakistan’s financial position was very week, he said, and the country could not talk about taking on the US. He said Pakistan could not succeed against terrorists without co-operation and intelligence-sharing with the United States and that if Pakistan pulled out of the alliance, it would have to bow down after international powers imposed sanctions on it and declared it a terrorist state.

He said unmanned drones of NATO and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan used Pakistani airspace with the consent of the Pakistani government. But he added that Pakistan had repeatedly denied permission to coalition forces to attack targets inside Pakistan.

“Border violations of any kind will not be tolerated and we have made this thing crystal-clear to them.”

Rasool contradicted speculations by certain defence analysts that the US had ‘designs’ in the region, saying there was no evidence to support such claims. He also said success was not possible in Pakistan’s fight against terrorists without a consensus. The military alone could not win the war, he said. The defence secretary condemned civilian killings in Afghanistan.

Senator Professor Khurshid Ahmad from the Jamaat-e-Islami said the United States had its own agenda in the region and that the leaders of Pakistan and other Muslim states had failed to identify ‘the real source of threat’.

He said the tribal system had been destroyed but there were no alternatives, and that had created a vacuum in the Tribal Areas.

He suggested the involvement of Russia in the region, saying it had decided to ‘pay back’ the US by supporting insurgents in Afghanistan through money and armaments. “Russia wants to take revenge from the US by supporting anti-US elements in Afghanistan,” he said. He also accused India and said he could not rule out Israel’s interference in Afghanistan to create insurgency. He said things needed to be handled with great sensitivity and sense.

Senator Kamil Ali Agha protested President Asif Ali Zardari’s reported statement that Pakistan had consented to US attacks inside Pakistan. The government has already denied the president said that.

Dr Rifaat Hussain said that the US must keep in mind the ‘spillover effect’ of the war on terror, and insisted that it could not be won without winning the hearts and minds of the local people.

He called the Taliban a ‘divergent force’, which needed to be tackled ‘while keeping in mind all kinds of realities’. He suggested the development of ‘soft power’ in tandem with ‘hard power’ while dealing with terrorism.

He said the fight against terrorism was a test of the maturity and political acumen of the elected leadership. The meeting was presided over by Committee Chairman Nisar A Memon.

An Online report said Memon underscored the need for enhanced intelligence and dialogue with tribal elders.

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