News
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Pakistan allows NATO to fly food into AfghanistanISLAMABAD: Islamabad publicly admitted on Tuesday that it had allowed NATO to use Pakistani airspace to fly supplies into Afghanistan, despite a more than two-month blockade on the border crossings.
“Pakistan has allowed the US and NATO to use its airspace for supplies to their forces in Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds. The permission has been given for food items,” a defence ministry official quoted Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar as saying at a function in Islamabad. “Since the food items were perishable, we have allowed them to transport them by air to Afghanistan. We have told them to take the supplies out by air and don’t bring more for the time being,” the official quoted him as saying. To a question regarding extension in service of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Chief Rao Qamar Suleman, he said the decision to grant extension to the air chief was not his prerogative, adding that he had moved a summary for the purpose.
The defence minister said that Pakistan was fully capable of defending its territorial integrity and countering India’s military preparedness and war doctrine. He made these remarks while talking to reporters after attending the signing ceremony of acquisition of Boeing 777 aircraft by PIA.
Mukhtar said the government was waiting for the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS), adding that foreign and defence policies would be reviewed after the committee’s recommendations.
US ambassador to Islamabad, Cameron Munter, last week confirmed that NATO had continued to fly supplies into Afghanistan despite Pakistan’s closure of the border to NATO trucks and oil tankers on November 26. Relations between Pakistan and the United States sunk to an all-time low after air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the Afghan border in an incident that the United States blamed on mistakes made by both sides.
The US and Pakistan still disagree over who should be blamed for the November attack, but there have been growing signs that relations are improving. There was a temporary hiccup in that process on Tuesday when police briefly detained a US Embassy employee after bullets were found in his luggage at an airport. But the man was handed over to American officials after a couple hours. The move to allow food items to enter Afghanistan could be a precursor to opening the border altogether. Parliament is expected to vote on a revised framework for relations with the US this week that could pave the way for the government to reopen the supply line.
Also, senior Pakistani officials have said in recent days that the government should fully reopen its border to NATO supplies as long as it can negotiate better fees from the coalition. agenciesCourtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk