The meeting between intelligence high-ups was arranged to improve working coordination and timely sharing of information to eliminate the militant groups having sanctuaries on both sides of the Afghanistan and Pakistan border. The trends, however, underline that the Americans’ arrogant and pressuring attitude during the meeting could estrange the new chief of ISI. The irrational pressure and illogical demands are not in the interest of United States. The seven month suspension of the NATO supplies manifest that Pakistani nation has a potential to bear the pressure of United States.
Recently, the United States and Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the transit of cargo to and from Afghanistan through Pakistan. The MoU was signed on July 31, 2012, yet the details of agreement were not declassified till the writing of these lines. Nevertheless, Pakistan’s Defence Secretary, Asif Yasin Malik claimed that the deal would contribute to the stability of the region and hailed it as a “landmark event”. Conversely, the religious political parties had expressed their serious reservations on the Memorandum of Understanding.
The execution of the MoU on the transit of Cargo in letter and spirit would be immensely challenging for the Pakistani law enforcement agencies. According to the leak information, the security of the containers on the Pakistani territory is the responsibility of the government of Pakistan. If any consignment is damaged or destroyed by the militants, the payment would be paid by Pakistan. As pointed out, the exact information is not available and therefore I am not sure what in reciprocity Pakistan will receive by providing foolproof security to the container or transporting vehicles.
The absence of trust between Washington and Islamabad only estrange bilateral relations. Therefore, both sides should revisit the root cause of their mistrust and revamp their cooperative mechanism in the war on terrorism.