Though the government insists that Nato supplies have not been restored, the signals emanating from the meetings of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) on Tuesday, and of the Cabinet on Wednesday, indicate no obstacle in the way of the restoration of the Ground Lines of Communication. The authorisation of continued talks should be taken as permission. The absence of a statement reflects on the one hand the DCC and the Cabinet’s realisation that restoration will be universally resented in the entire country, particularly as there has been no apology for the Salala incident, in which 26 Pakistani soldiers were killed in cold blood by Nato gunship helicopters. The Defence Ministry has already finalised three agreements with the USA, but it is symptomatic that there has been no demand even made that drone attacks, which kill Pakistani citizens and violate its sovereignty, must stop, even though this was one of the conuditions that the parliamentary joint sitting laid down when it reviewed relations with the USA.
The DCC meeting in particular put paid to the impression that the military in any way had reservations that the civilian government did not share. The DCC meeting was attended by all three service chiefs, and the joint chiefs chairman, and there is no sign that they offered any alternate view, when the restoration was agreed on. The Cabinet preferred to concentrate on the invitation to the President for the Chicago Nato Summit. However, this was also agreed to by the DCC, thereby removing any doubt about where the military stood on the issue. The whole affair is likely to leave the people of Pakistan feeling that there is a disconnect between their wishes and what is actually happening. Also, there is a feeling that if the decision was to be a restoration, what was the point of such a prolonged suspension?
As Pakistan has already learnt to its detriment, the USA is an ally that brings destruction and suspicion in its wake. Instead of withdrawing from the War on Terror, America is to be let off the hook, even after killing the soldiers of a supposed ally. It is rather late, but Pakistan still has the option of refuting rumours about the restoration until there is an apology for Salala, and there is an end to the drone attacks. By putting forward the parliamentary resolutions on the subject, Pakistan would have been able to put off the restoration, instead Pakistan’s parliamentary resolutions have become a standing joke and Pakistan once again cast in the role of the boy who cried, “Wolf!”