Different official statements issued about Pakistani PMYousuf Raza Gilani’s telephonic conversation with Indian PM Manmohan Singh clearly reflect the poor and patchy process of decision-making
LAHORE: Different official statements issued about Pakistani PMYousuf Raza Gilani’s telephonic conversation with Indian PM Manmohan Singh clearly reflect the poor and patchy process of decision-making at the highest government level in Pakistan, as well as the widening gulf between the civilian and the military leadership.
Diplomatic circles say the reversal of the Pakistan’s decision to send the ISI chief to India was motivated by immediate pressure from the army high command which was furious over the announcement that was made without consultation. After Indian TV channels reported that Singh has told his Pakistan counterpart that the terrorists had come from Karachi and the ISI chief should be dispatched to Delhi to discuss the Mumbai carnage, the Pakistan PM’s secretariat changed its mind and issued another statement confirming what the India media said.
In fact, the first statement was revised with the addition: “During the conversation Singh told the prime minister that the preliminary reports point towards Karachi and stressed the need for increased intelligence-sharing and cooperation in order to evolve a joint strategy against terrorism and extremism. Singh requested the PM to send DG ISI to India for exchange of information in this regard. The PM accepted the request and said that after working out moralities by both the governments, the ISI chief will visit at the earliest.”
Thus, the Indian media that was comprehensively briefed by authorities on the Gilani-Singh talks forced Gilani to come out with details of the talk. In the second statement, Gilani accepted his Indian counterpart’s request to send the ISI chief and committed to dispatch him to New Delhi. But this stand was again changed late on Friday when the last and perhaps conclusive statement attributed to the PM’s spokesman was issued. It said an ISI representative would visit India instead of the ISI chief. Opponents of the move argued that the ISI chief should not be dispatched simply in compliance with summoning by India. On Friday night, Inter Services public relations chief Maj-Gen Athar Abbas told a private TV channel that the Army would take a decision after the receipt of a detailed order from the government.
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