No troops in Pakistan, US warned

PAKISTAN’S foreign minister yesterday warned the United States against sending ground troops to her country to fight an Afghan militant group that America alleges is used as a proxy by Pakistan’s top intelligence agency for attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The warning came as a top US military commander was in Pakistan for talks with the army chief at a time of intense strain between the two countries.

The US Embassy said General James Mattis, head of US Central Command, arrived in Pakistan late on Friday, and that he will meet the army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

Ties between Islamabad and Washington are in crisis after American officials stepped up accusations that Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence was aiding insurgents in neighbouring Afghanistan, including the Haqqani network, who took part in an attack on the United States Embassy last week in Kabul.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, said that there are red lines and rules of engagement with America which should not be broken. “It opens all kinds of doors and all kinds of options,” she told Pakistan’s private Aaj News TV from New York. The comment was in response to a question about the possibility of US troops coming to Pakistan.

Khar, however, insisted that Pakistan’s policy was to seek a more intensive engagement with the US and that she would like to discourage any blame game. “If many of your goals are not achieved, you do not make someone a scapegoat,” she said, addressing the United States.