A United States incursion into Pakistan to fight terrorist elements would provoke a response from the Pakistani government, the country’s Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Mushahid Hussein told The Media Line
The Pakistani Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Saturday passed a resolution, according to which if the United States would carry out its “threat” of incursion into Pakistan territory, the latter would cease any cooperation with the U.S. and the international community in the campaign against terrorism.
"We feel that Pakistan has done more than the U.S., NATO and Britain in the campaign against terrorism, sacrificing nearly a thousand of its officers and soldiers and deploying 85,000 troops," Hussein said.
Hussein added that despite all of Pakistan’s efforts to fight Al-Qa’ida and Taliban, it was still treated as a foe rather than a friend. He said a unilateral incursion of the U.S. army into Pakistan, without the consent of the Pakistani government, would be regarded as a violation of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns recently said the United States would take unilateral action if it had credible information that "senior Al-Qa’ida leaders were hiding in a particular place" in Pakistan.
"We feel that such an action would provoke a popular backlash among the people of Pakistan, which would also be detrimental to the U.S. national security interest," Hussein said.
The United States’ Congress passed legislation on Friday that would tie U.S. aid to Pakistan to the latter’s efforts to stop Al-Qa’ida and the Taliban operating in its territory. The legislation has been sent to U.S. President George W. Bush for signature.
In response, the Pakistani Senate Foreign Relations Committee criticized what it described as “the American double-standard on its South-Asia policy.”
"This reminded Pakistanis painfully of the Pressler Amendment of 1985, where they linked aid to Pakistan with certain conditions, while concurrently the Indian-U.S. nuclear accord had been ratified even though it violates American laws, since it promotes proliferation by allowing India to continue nuclear testing and enrichment of uranium," it said.
Hussein called on the U.S. to reassess its policy in the Muslim world.
"There is a big gap between Washington’s policies and popular perceptions in the region. Exclusive reliance on the use of force has not worked and it should be reviewed and reassessed."
Pakistan has played a significant role in the war on terror since 9/11 and was considered one of the U.S.’s strongest allies in the Middle East.
However, the strengthening of the Taliban and Al-Qa’ida in south Afghanistan and in the bordering regions of northern Pakistan has recently caused the U.S. army and policymakers to reevaluate the effectiveness of their ally’s war on terror.