ISLAMABAD - Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani on Thursday asked for transparent ties with the United States based on mutual trust and respect, as he held a meeting with the top American military commander in Afghanistan. The meeting between the two military commanders was the first days after Islamabad and Washington reached a vital agreement to end well over seven months long blockade of NATO supply routes. General Allen also played a vital role in ending the Pakistan-US stalemate over the NATO supplies and his were the last but decisive talks with General Kayani and other Pakistani officials here in Islamabad only a couple of days before the deal on reopening of NATO supply routes was sealed. “The Pakistan-US relationship should be based on mutual trust, respect and transparency,” said Army Chief General Kayani during a meeting in Rawalpindi with Gen John Allen, the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, who arrived here on Thursday morning on a daylong visit to Pakistan. General Kayani said his meeting with General Allen had helped improve strategic and operational understanding between the Pakistani military and ISAF. On his part, General Allen said “significant progress” was being made in improving cooperation with Pakistan, according to a joint statement issued after the talks between the military commanders.
Allen said, “I look forward to these visits and am pleased with the upward spiral in our relationship they represent. We are making significant progress toward building a partnership that is enduring, strategic, carefully defined and that enhances the security and prosperity of the region.” A diplomatic source said General Allen once again raised the issue of ‘Haqqani network’, which is allegedly based in North Waziristan with the army chief and asked for an all out military offensive against that most powerful militant outfit by Pakistan Army as soon as possible. He said Kayani told the visiting US military official that it would be Pakistan’s decision when to launch a military operation in North Waziristan and that would not be done under any external pressure.
General Kayani, he said, also asked for effective measures by NATO forces on the other side of Afghan border to prevent the terrorist attacks on Pakistani border posts in Dir, Bajaur and Chitral. According to a security official who sought anonymity, the meeting between General Kayani and the ISAF commander was focused on border coordination matters and reviewing progress made in implementing issues discussed during the last tripartite meeting between Pakistan, Afghanistan and ISAF.
He said it was decided to increase the coordination between Pakistani and ISAF-led NATO forces on Pak-Afghan border that would help in tackling the menace of terror effectively. The joint statement, issued after the meeting said that the meeting between General Kayani and General Allen was another in a series of opportunities for the commanders to continue building upon the growing operational cooperation between the Afghan National Security Forces, the Pakistan military and ISAF.