The standoff between the United States and Pakistan over the ISI’s links with the Haqqani terror network appeared to deepen Sunday, with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani ordering foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar to cut short her visit to Washington midway and return home.
Ms Khar was in the United States to attend the UN General Assembly session. Mr Gilani was originally scheduled to visit the United States, but tensions between the two countries led him to cancel these plans and send Ms Khar instead.
“The PM has called back Hina Rabbani Khar to brief the leadership about her meetings with the United States leaders,” an official in Mr Gilani’s office told this newspaper.
The Pakistan Army, meanwhile, voiced concern on Sunday over the American allegations, and vowed it would defeat any “misadventure” on Pakistani soil. “The military leadership has decided it will not tolerate any threat to the sovereignty of the country. Any attack on Pakistan will be unacceptable,” a security official said.
The Army Chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, summoned a special meeting of all corps commanders to discuss rising tensions with the United States over military operations in Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency against the Haqqani network.
The marathon six-hour meeting was held in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.
Mr Gilani will hold a meeting of all political parties soon to “apprise them on the security situation in the wake of threats from outside the country”, a statement from Mr Gilani’s office said.
Ms Khar was “summoned to reach Pakistan soon to be present at the briefing”.