Militants part of Pak arsenal against India: US to its Senate

As Western powers look to reorient their engagement strategy in the AfPak region with the help of Islamabad....

As Western powers look to reorient their engagement strategy in the AfPak region with the help of Islamabad,the US intelligence community has conveyed to its Senate that Pakistan regards some militant groups as part of its strategic arsenal to counter India and this,in their assessment,will limit Pakistans effort to root out extremist forces.

Presenting the US Intelligence Communitys Annual Threat Assessment to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Tuesday,US Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said: Islamabads conviction that militant groups are an important part of its strategic arsenal to counter India’s military and economic advantages will continue to limit Pakistans incentive to pursue an across-the-board effort against extremism. He pointed out that this view could then provide justification to assist Al-Qaeda,the main threat to US. Islamabads strategic approach risks helping Al-Qaeda sustain its safe haven because some groups supported by Pakistan provide assistance to Al-Qaeda.

While the Pakistani political leadership is keen on resuming dialogue with India,its Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has made it clear that it continues to want strategic depth in Afghanistan. He is believed to have brought this up in his interactions with the NATO top brass in Brussels last week where he also sought more training capsules for Pakistan Army officials.

In a rare press interaction on his return to Pakistan,Kayani is reported to have said: We want a strategic depth in Afghanistan but do not want to control it… A peaceful and friendly Afghanistan can provide Pakistan strategic depth.

On the basis of its vast commitment to operations in the AfPak region,Kayani also pitched for greater Pakistani involvement in the training of the Afghanistan National Army (ANA) in his discussions with NATO. Much of this has also been prompted by reports of increasing Indian role in training ANA personnel.

Even the US threat assessment endorses that there has been significant improvement in Pakistans level of commitment to operations on its western border. In fact,it records that Pakistan has considerably added to its military deployment there besides improving the quality of leadership among the Frontier Forces.

However,it goes on to make the point in its assessment that Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban have buried their differences to work together and spark a more aggressive indigenous uprising against the government.

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Last year,according to the US Intelligence community,there were about 40 suicide attacks in major cities of Pakistan killing about 600 civilians.

The Pakistan Army too has suffered large number of casualties. According to Kayani,so far 2,273 officers and soldiers have been killed since the offensive began. As of now,he claimed that some 140,000 Pakistani troops were deployed to fight in the tribal areas.

With the London Conference giving a grudging go-ahead to engage the so-called moderate Taliban,sources said,it does provide Pakistan with an opportunity to strike deals that could aid its larger strategic paradigm as spelt out by Kayani.