Pakistan Security Brief

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to meet Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on sidelines of UN Summit; Pakistan considering U.S. soft apology; Pakistan and India meet to discuss Sir Creek; Taliban commends Indian refrain from greater involvement in Afghanistan; President Zardari to meet Russian President Putin in St. Petersburg; Pakistan required to implement international conventions for EU GPS+ status; Pakistani Taliban commander bans polio vaccinations in North Waziristan; 25 killed in Khyber blast; IED kills five students in Quetta; 500 additional police deployed to Karachi; President Zardari exonerated in ‘memogate’ case.

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

  • According to official sources, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar are expected to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations sustainability conference in Rio de Janeiro from June 20-22. The two leaders will likely discuss issues related to a possible U.S. apology over the Salala border incident and the reopening of NATO supply routes. Although the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials claimed no such meeting was officially scheduled so far, they noted that they “never said that a meeting between them is ruled out.”[1]

NATO Supply Lines

India-Pakistan Relations

  • Pakistani and Indian officials are meeting in New Delhi to begin two-day peace talks over Sir Creek, a disputed maritime inlet dividing the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat from Sindh province in Pakistan. The delegations, led by Rear Admiral Farrukh Ahmed on the Pakistani side and Surveyor General of India S. Subba Rao on the Indian side, are meeting one week after the two countries failed to reach an agreement over the disputed Siachen glacier. According to Defense Minister Naveed Qamar, negotiations over a withdrawal of troops from Siachen are ongoing between Pakistan and India.[4]

  • In a statement posted on the group’s English website on Sunday, the Afghan Taliban commended India for rejecting U.S. calls for greater involvement in Afghanistan. Though small groups of Afghan army officers often come to military institutions in the country, India has avoided a more active role in Afghanistan, prompting the Taliban to deem U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s recent calls for enhanced Indian action in Afghanistan a failure. The website statement also claimed that the Taliban would not use bases in Afghanistan to carry out attacks on another country. The Taliban praise comes as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said this week that a recently announced trilateral forum between the U.S., India, and Afghanistan is “not directed against Pakistan.” According to Blake, the agreement aims to bring greater stability and economic development to Afghanistan, rather than “squeeze Pakistan from both ends” as some officials have attributed.[5]

International Relations

Militancy

Memogate


[1] “Khar likely to meet Clinton this week,” Daily Times, June 18, 2012. Available at http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\18\story_18-6-2012_pg7_6
[2] “Pakistan considering ‘soft apology’ offered by US,” Dawn, June 16, 2012. Available at http://dawn.com/2012/06/17/pakistan-considering-soft-apology-offered-by-us/
[3] “NATO supply restoration on soft apology: JI,” The News, June 18, 2012. Available at http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-115140-Nato-supply-restoration-on-soft-apology-foolish:-JI
[4] “Pakistan, India start peace talks on Sir Creek,” Dawn, June 18, 2012. Available at http://dawn.com/2012/06/18/pakistan-india-start-peace-talks-on-sir-creek/
“Talks on Siachen withdrawal underway: Qamar,” Daily Times, June 18, 2012. Available at http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\18\story_18-6-2012_pg7_14
[5] Sanjeev Miglani, “Taliban praise India for resisting Afghan entanglement,” Reuters, June 17, 2012. Available at http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/17/afghanistan-taliban-india-idINL3E8HG01G20120617
Anwar Iqbal, “US to allay Pakistan’s concerns over new Afghan forum,” Dawn, June 17, 2012. Available at http://dawn.com/2012/06/18/us-to-allay-pakistans-concerns-over-new-afghan-forum/
[6] “Zardari to visit Russia to attend SPIEF,” APP, June 18, 2012. Available at http://tribune.com.pk/story/395407/zardari-to-visit-russia-to-attend-spief/
[7] “UN refugee agency unveils new strategy for repatriation,” APP, June 18, 2012. Available at http://tribune.com.pk/story/395214/un-refugee-agency-unveils-new-strategy-for-repatriation/
[8] “EU trade concessions,” Dawn, June 17, 2012. Available at http://dawn.com/2012/06/18/eu-trade-concessions-4/
“VIP status: Pakistan added to EU trade preference list,” Express Tribune, June 16, 2012. Available at http://tribune.com.pk/story/394306/vip-status-pakistan-added-to-eu-trade-preference-list/
[9] “Seven terrorists killed in NWA air strikes,” Daily Times, June 18, 2012. Available at http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\18\story_18-6-2012_pg7_28
Declan Walsh, “Taliban Block Vaccinations in Pakistan,” New York Times, June 18, 2012. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/world/asia/taliban-block-vaccinations-in-pakistan.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
[10] Lehaz Ali, “25 dead in Pakistan car bomb blast,” AFP, June 16, 2012. Available at http://news.yahoo.com/least-11-dead-pakistan-blast-officials-071207960.html
“TTP denies hand in Landikotal blast,” The News, June 17, 2012. Available at http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-7-114935-TTP-denies-hand-in-Landikotal-blast
[11] Riaz Khan, “Bombings kill 33 in Pakistani tribal region,” AP, June 17, 2012. Available at http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jYvAWrSt9vPA1GBVcUc3_AqjYwsg?docId=6aa0e2d5828b4540828acce373679492
[12] “Five students killed as bomb hits university bus in Quetta,” Geo Pakistan, June 18, 2012. Available at http://www.geo.tv/GeoDetail.aspx?ID=54818
[13] “Karachi killings claim 17 lives; ‘shoot on sight’ orders issued,” Dawn, June 17, 2012. Available at http://dawn.com/2012/06/17/karachi-killings-claim-11-lives/
“Two more fall prey to Karachi violence,” Geo Pakistan, June 16, 2012. Available at http://www.geo.tv/GeoDetail.aspx?ID=54559
“One killed, five hurt in Karachi firing,” The News, June 15, 2012. Available at http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-54478-One-killed,-five-hurt-in-Karachi-firing
[14] Azam Khan, “’Boss’ Zardari had no involvement in Memogate: Commission report,” Express Tribune, June 16, 2012. Available at http://tribune.com.pk/story/394746/boss-zardari-had-no-involvement-in-memogate-commission-report/
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