Islamabad-Washington freeze on the thaw: NYT

WASHINGTON: According to a New York Times report, the Islamabad-Washington ties, which were in somewhat a freeze since November last year, when American warplanes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in a confused cross-border strike, were on the thaw finally.

NYT also reported that, American plans to move past that case, and reboot diplomatic relations, were stymied this week by riots in Afghanistan after Korans were burned at the country’s large NATO base on Monday night.

Under a carefully coordinated plan, the military had planned for Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to make a formal apology for the American strike via telephone to Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, on Thursday, according to a Defense Department official, the paper added.

Mrs. Clinton was to have amplified on that apology in her meeting with Ms. Khar, an official informed NYT.

But the plan was upset by the explosion of violent rioting in Afghanistan.

Obama administration officials quickly calculated that too many regrets at once would hand ammunition to Republican presidential candidates, the official added, reported NYT.

According to NYT, a senior Pakistani official said his government also wanted the American apology to be delayed until at least mid-March, when the Pakistani Parliament is scheduled to hold a special sitting to debate the country’s policy toward America.

The US paper also said that the complex diplomatic dance would also affect the fledgling Taliban talks process.

Moreover, a high-level US delegation, led by special representative for Afghanistan-Pakistan, Mark Grossman, would soon visit Pakistan to iron out the last remaining differences.