Pak threatens India against Abbottabad like 'misadventure'

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Pak threatens India against Abbottabad like 'misadventure'

6 May 2011, 0808 hrs IST, AGENCIES

Pakistan army and the government on Thursday (May 5) reacted sharply warning

India against any Abbottabad-like " misadventure " , saying it would be responded

to " very strongly " that could lead to a " terrible catastrophe " .

The warning came after a meeting of the Corps Commanders chaired by Gen Ashfaq

Pervez Kayani which decided to reduce the level of US military personnel in

Pakistan and threatened to review intelligence cooperation with it, if a repeat

of " violation of sovereignty " like on Monday occurred.

Reacting to statements by Army Chief Gen V K Singh and Air Chief Air Marshal P V

Naik that India has the capacity to carry out an operation similar to US forces

eliminating Osama bin Laden, first Pakistan Foreign Secretary told a press

conference that any country that attempts to " mimic " the unilateral act of the

US will find it has made a " basic miscalculation " .

" We see a lot of bravado in our own region. There have been statements that have

come from across (the border), by senior people from the military and air force,

which state that this can be repeated.

" We feel that sort of misadventure or miscalculation would result in a terrible

catastrophe, " he said in his opening remarks.

Later, the military issued a statement after the Corps Commanders meeting,

saying, " The forum, taking serious note of the assertions made by Indian

military leadership about conducting similar operations, made it very clear that

any misadventure of this kind will be responded to very strongly. There should

be no doubt about it. "

The meeting held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi issued the warning

after reviewing the operation in which bin Laden was killed on Monday.

Referring to the US raid, Kayani " made it very clear that any similar action,

violating the sovereignty of

Pakistan, will warrant a review on the level of military (and) intelligence

cooperation with the United States. "

The Corps Commanders were also informed about a decision " to reduce the strength

of US military personnel in Pakistan to the minimum essential. " The statement

did not say how many US military personnel would be asked to leave Pakistan.

In the face of continuing media reports that the US has plans to secure

Pakistan's nuclear assets in the event of a takeover by extremists, the army's

top commanders made it clear that targeting the atomic arsenal would not be as

simple as hitting bin Laden's compound.

" As regards the possibility of similar hostile action against our strategic

assets, the forum reaffirmed that, unlike an undefended civilian compound, our

strategic assets are well protected and an elaborate defensive mechanism is in

place, " the statement said.

The statement said the US raid in Abbottabad was the " one point agenda " of the

meeting. " The forum discussed the incident and its implications on

military-to-military relations with the United States, " it said.

The military admitted its " own shortcomings in developing intelligence on the

presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan " and said " an investigation has been

ordered into the circumstances that led to this situation " .

At the same time, the military " highlighted that the achievements of

Inter-Services Intelligence against al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates in

Pakistan have no parallel " .

The statement said around 100 top-level al Qaeda leaders and operators were

killed or arrested by the ISI with or without the support of the CIA.

" However, in the case of Osama bin Laden, while the CIA developed intelligence

based on initial information provided by ISI, it did not share further

development of intelligence on the case with ISI, contrary to the existing

practice between the two services, " the statement alleged.

The commanders also reiterated their " resolve to defend the sovereignty and

territorial integrity of Pakistan " and to fight terrorism with the support of

the people.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Bashir accused Indian establishment and its armed

forces of trying to subvert Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's agenda by making

statements which were a " matter of concern " .

" I only see them as symptomatic of trends and tendencies within the Indian

establishment and their armed forces to subvert the agenda of Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh. I don't think the Indian leadership would really subscribe to

this " .

Responding to a query on the remarks of Indian military officials about mounting

a raid against leaders of Pak-based terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba,

Bashir said such comments are " a matter of concern " .

Bashir highlighted the need for a " serious constructive approach " and said

Pakistan was engaged in a

process of dialogue with India.

" We have had good meetings recently between the Home and Interior Secretaries of

the two countries on counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics. We have done

everything that we can and we are continuing to do in terms of cooperating to

avert the possibilities of terror between our two countries " , he said.

Bashir even questioned whether the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks could be described

as " an intelligence failure or security failure on the part of India. "

He also sought to equate the incident to the questions of " incompetence or

complicity " being raised about Pakistani security forces in the context of the

US raid that killed bin Laden.

Bashir mounted a strong defence of the ISI in the wake of questions raised by US

officials about its failure to detect bin Laden even though he was living in a

compound located less than a kilometre from the Pakistan Military Academy.

He also sought to dispel the impression that the US raid had taken bilateral

relations to a fresh low.

While acknowledging that the unilateral and covert US operation had been

successful in eliminating bin Laden, Bashir said it was " fortunate that a major

tragedy that could have happened was averted " as the Pakistan Air Force had

scrambled two F-16 jets after learning that some helicopters were

present over Abbottabad.

Referring to comments by US officials like CIA chief Leon Panetta about the

possible complicity of Pakistani security forces or intelligence agencies in

sheltering bin Laden, he said such remarks had " continued to surface

periodically " to pressure Pakistan to " do more " in the war on terror.

" It's easy to say the ISI or elements within the government were in cahoots with

al-Qaeda. This is a false hypothesis and a false charge. It cannot be validated

on any account and it flies in the face of what Pakistan and the ISI has been

able to accomplish, " he contended.

Bashir claimed the ISI had been more successful than even the CIA in capturing

or killing al-Qaeda and Taliban elements.

The ISI had shared information on the compound where bin Laden was found since

2009 and had also focused on Abbottabad since 2004, he said.