Pakistan Army puppeteering govt, emails show

Even as there have long been whispers in the international community that the civilian government in Pakistan has little power and clout in formulating domestic and foreign policy and is instead being dictated by the Army headquartered in Rawalpindi, new Hillary Clinton emails accessed by WION prove the hypothesis. The Clinton emails show how the Pakistani envoys had been taking orders directly from the Army rather than from Pakistan Foreign Office and in a rather stark instance, how former Pakistani foreign minister Heena Rabbani Khar was under pressure from the Army to skip the conference on Afghanistan in Bonn.

"She (Khar) said that during the defense committee meeting, the military had pressed hard for her to announce that she would not go to Bonn, but that she had been able to prevent that. But she was not sure she could sustain that argument in the days ahead," read one of the emails. Ultimately, Pakistan withdrew from participation following a NATO airstrike on November 26, 2011 that killed 26 Pakistani soldiers. Meanwhile, it has also emerged that the German ambassador in Pakistan had called Khar and asked her not to cancel participation. Additionally, Secretary Clinton called her and told her the airstrike was regretted.

The emails go on to show that Pakistan's permanent representative Maleeha Lodhi was working as a conduit between then secretary of state Hillary Clinton and then Pakistani Army Chief Ashfaq Kayani. "I got a call from Maleeha Lodhi who is in London. She gave a message from Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani," said the email.

The mails also reveal that in an unusual breach of protocol between Army and government in 2010, Kayani handed over a 13-page document on Afghanistan to President Barack Obama that he insisted on being responded by the US government.

INDISCREET MOVES

• The Clinton emails show how the Pakistani envoys had been taking orders directly from the Army rather than from Pakistan Foreign Office
   
• Rabbani Khar was pressured to skip the conference on Afghanistan in Bonn
   
• Army chief Kayani handed over a 13-page doc on Afghanistan to President Barack Obama