Setting terms for renewal of ties with the United States, Pakistain has sought 'punishment' for and an 'apology' from those responsible for Saturday's deadly NATO...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
attack on two of its border posts.
The demand, military sources say, was made through a letter sent to Washington earlier this week.
"Nothing short of this will be acceptable," a bigwig said in a background interview with Dawn, adding that Pakistain would otherwise be constrained to "reconsider its partnership in the war on terror".
Even as the inquiry initiated by the US military is yet to identify who, if anyone, is culpable, a Pak general at a media briefing on Tuesday said that International Security Assistance Force chief Gen John Allen was ultimately responsible in his capacity as commander.
However,
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military officials would not explicitly say if they would like to see his (Gen Allen's) exit.
Moreover, the US has been asked to clarify why its helicopters returned to attack the post after they had disengaged following contacts between senior Pak and Isaf commanders.
Civilian and military leaderships from both sides have been interacting quite regularly to find the way forward, but the mood in Islamabad and Rawalpindi suggests that no progress is likely until the Americans come up with a 'tangible response' to Pak demands.
Robert Raines, a front man for the US Embassy, said discussions were taking place. However,
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he refused to confirm or deny if any specific demands had been made.
A Pak diplomat at the Foreign Office confirmed the demand and said Washington had been categorically told to "stop treating Pakistain as a client state".
Relations between Pakistain and the US have been on a downward spiral since the start of this year, but the most recent incident has made the much talked about likely breakdown in bilateral ties more imminent.
The government has already expressed its fury by blocking crucial NATO supply route, calling for vacation of the Shamsi airbase by Dec 11 and by pulling out of the Bonn conference on Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, in a telephonic conversation with Italian counterpart Giulio Terzi, said the attack reflected the "callous behaviour" of the US and NATO.
Maj-Gen Ishfaq Nadeem, the Director-General of Military Operations, stepped up the rhetoric earlier in the week by claiming that the attack was deliberate.