Wall Street Journal is reporting that Pakistan is lobbying Afghanistan's president Hamis Karzai against building a long-term strategic partnership with the U.S., urging him instead to look to Pakistan and its Chinese ally for help in striking a peace deal with the Taliban and rebuilding the
economy, according to Afghans present during the meeting on 16 April.
The United States plans to start removing combat troops from Afghanistan in July 2011, with most of them scheduled to be home by the end of 2014. Pakistan hopes to fill any power vacuum
the United States leave behind. In 1989 when Soviet Union pulled out of Afghanistan Pakistan with the backing of Saudi Arabia helped create Talibans.
United States has spent billions in largely failed effort in bolstering the Pakistan's Military against Talibans and Al Qaida. Pakistan's economy is in dire straits and forecast for 2011 indicates that it will be the worst year for Pakistan's economy after the flooding of 2010. Pakistan relays a great deal on U.S. dollars which are given to it in the form of aid.
The WSJ reported that Pakistan no longer has an incentive to allow the United States a leading role in what it considers its own backyard. Pakistan Military and ISI can not be relied upon in fighting Talibans which they helped create in three decades. Admiral Mike Mullen in his recent visit to Pakistan bluntly told the local media that relationship between ISI and Haqqani group; which is responsible of terror attacks on NATO forces, was straining the relationship between U.S. and Pakistan.
Pakistan however denied that it had any such talks with Karzi's government. “Reports claiming Gilani-Karzai discussion abt Pakistan advising alignment away fm US are inaccurate,” Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington, Hussain Haqqani, wrote on his Twitter feed.
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Also read our post on 'Talk with Talibans'
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