Tension in Islamabad: Army chief briefs Govt on steps in case of ‘any eventuality’

Meeting for the second time within hours to discuss the fallout of the Mumbai terror attacks amid suspected Pakistani links, Pakistan Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani briefed the civilian leadership about the operational preparedness of the military to address any eventuality.

Meeting for the second time within hours to discuss the fallout of the Mumbai terror attacks amid suspected Pakistani links, Pakistan Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani briefed the civilian leadership about the operational preparedness of the military to address any eventuality.

President Asif Ali Zardari met Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani and Kayani late last night again after their first meeting ended in the wee hours yesterday. Gilani today cancelled his official four-day visit to Hong Kong to attend the Asia meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s House said the visit had been cancelled due to the situation in the country. The Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Shahnaz Wazir Ali will represent Pakistan at the meeting in Hong Kong.

TV channels quoted official sources as saying that Kayani briefed the President and Prime Minister about the operational preparedness of the armed forces. The sources also quoted the three leaders as saying that India should refrain from levelling “baseless allegations” against Pakistan.

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Warning of rising tension with India, Pakistan’s security apparatus has said up to one lakh troops could be redeployed along the Indian border after diverting them from the Afghan frontier.

The next two days would be crucial in determining how the situation would unfold, senior security officials were quoted as saying by the local media on a background briefing organised for Pakistani journalists yesterday.

Pakistan would wind up its “war on terror” on the Afghan borders if the situation in the east “spiralled out of control”, the officials were quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper. The top officials categorised the current state of Pakistan-India relations as “tense”. “They (Indians) are taking the escalation level up at a very brisk pace,” one official said.

Describing the situation as “crisis-like”, officials said Pakistan would pull out “all the troops” now deployed in the country’s northwest if India deployed forces on its border. The “war on terror won’t be our priority”, a security official said.