Nawaz Sharif urges unilateral pullout from Siachen

[ejazr]

'Pak must dump ego to lead Siachen troop pullout'

Islamabad: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has urged the government to take the lead and retract its troops from Siachen glacier, the disputed and undemarcated region of Kashmir.

"Let's not make it a matter of ego. Pakistan should take the initiative," The Express Tribune quoted Sharif, as saying.

He recently called on both the governments of India and Pakistan to withdraw troops from the post where 138 troops and civilians were buried by a massive avalanche over a week ago.

On April 7, huge wall of snow crashed down in the Giari sector, swamping the battalion headquarters of 6 Northern Light Infantry, where 124 soldiers and 14 civilians were stationed.

According to the report, the incident swung a spotlight onto the 65-year-old conflict between Pakistan and India, and ignited debates on the futility of the battle on 'Earth's ceiling' for over two decades.

Sharif said that both countries should solve the Siachen issue and the billions of rupees being spent on the war should be directed towards people's prosperity.

Senior leaders of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) including Senator Mushahidullah, Marvi Memon, Mehtab Abbasi and Pervez Rasheed, supported him.

 

[thakur_ritesh]

Kayani has backed the claim.

I hope we dont give in, and if at all we agree, IA needs to be completely on board and the demarcations happen.

I think come sep-oct and if the PM is headed to Pakistan, a lot of things will get clear.

 

[ejazr]

^^^
Well unilateral means, only Pakistanis will be withdrawing without asking for Indian reciprocity. Atleast, that is in theory.

Alsthough it doesn't seem like Kayani agrees with a unilateral Pakistani withdrawal. And the GoP govt. has also rejected Nawaz Sharief's suggestion

Malik castigates Nawaz; rejects unilateral withdrawal from Siachin | DAWN.COM
Gen. Kayani rules out Pakistan’s unilateral withdrawal from Siachen | Indus Asia Online Journal (iaoj)

 

[devgupt]

Slighlt going OT
20th February1999 - Sharif welcomed Vajpayee at the Wagah Border. It was a euphoric moment - I remember watching it live on DD.There was one jarring note. Musharaf had refused to accompany him to welcome Vajpayee as the general believed it would be an insult to 'freedom fighters of Kashmir'. However when Lahore declaration was signed, it looked that it was only a matter of time before both nations resolve their differences.

In May Vajpayee to his shock found out that Pakistani troops are occupying Kargil, and the dream was over.
To his day Nawaz claims that he was kept in dark by Musharaf about Kargil and came to know about it in May. He blames him for the failure of his peace initiative. Mushy claims that Nawaz was informed in March and asked him to proceed ahead.

I don't know what's the truth is.But if one looks at the public pronouncements of Nawaz after 99 - till date, wrt India they appear very short of jingoistic rhetoric.Can he be trusted? The answer is - it doesn't matter whether he is dove or a hawk. What matters is that PA , ISI are still hawks.Without them turning a corner, any effort by probable PM Nawaz will come to a naught - just like it did in the summer of 99.

 

[thakur_ritesh]

^^^
Well unilateral means, only Pakistanis will be withdrawing without asking for Indian reciprocity. Atleast, that is in theory.

Alsthough it doesn't seem like Kayani agrees with a unilateral Pakistani withdrawal. And the GoP govt. has also rejected Nawaz Sharief's suggestion

Malik castigates Nawaz; rejects unilateral withdrawal from Siachin | DAWN.COM
Gen. Kayani rules out Pakistan's unilateral withdrawal from Siachen | Indus Asia Online Journal (iaoj)

Okay, I wasnt aware that he had said "Let's not make it a matter of ego. Pakistan should take the initiative",because the other day he was saying the two countries have no business sitting at such heights and the two countries need to take a mature view on the issue, which pretty much meant sit on the negotiation table and workout a solution, than take an initiative and go for a unilateral withdrawal, and so I thought Kayani was just playing along.

 

[Yusuf]

Pakis are tryin to suck us in. Trust a rattle snake but not a Paki. I keep saying this. Let them pull out, we will take it

 

[devgupt]

Our political leadership should not be forcing any decision on IA.

 

[thakur_ritesh]

Our political leadership should not be forcing any decision on IA.

I think that will really depend on the kind of public view the GoI will enjoy by the time PM heads to Pakistan sometime later this year, if they have image reversal, they could well press on the IA to do a quiet give in.

Our politicians can be obsessed with what sort of a legacy they are leaving behind more so wrt Indo-Pak relations.

 

[ejazr]

IMHO,

Nawaz Sharif has had a change of heart from his 1990s days. He has become more pragmatic and realises that to "save Pakistan", the powers of the ISI/Army has to be curtailed and hostility with India ended.
So the postions taken by his party in the last few years from castigating the intelligence agencies to this present rhetoric to being supportive of normalisation of ties with India all follow this pattern.

Ofcourse, that doesn't mean that he can actually affect a lot of change. He is just representing a section of the public opinion there. The PA/ISI still controls the foriegn policy and are probably more likely to work to prevent Nawaz Sharif from gaining power in the next elections by supporting Imran Khan as a counter force. And atleast for now, the PA/ISI overide what Nawaz Sharif or Zardari want.

 

[Yusuf]

I think that will really depend on the kind of public view the GoI will enjoy by the time PM heads to Pakistan sometime later this year, if they have image reversal, they could well press on the IA to do a quiet give in.

Our politicians can be obsessed with what sort of a legacy they are leaving behind more so wrt Indo-Pak relations.

Then we will play our part in letting him know what we feel about Pakis and any peace moves.

 

[thakur_ritesh]

Ejaz,

At least that is what Najam Sethi wants us to believe, but is that really the case, I don't remain so certain. More than "Save Pakistan", it is more about "save his back side" because he has had a rather bad time with the PA/ISI. Had he not had as bad a time at the hands of Musharraf, and if he had successfully placed his loyalists at the top positions in PA during his rule, would he still have been as pragmatic? I don't think so, and let us reflect back to what Najam Sethi recently said. When Nawaz was briefed on Kargil and the moment he was convinced that the PA could successfully pull it off, he was all elated and gave a green signal, and this when just a few days back he had hosted ABV in a Indo-Pak peace summit.

Nawaz for sure knows of all the political bigwigs in Pakistan he is the most hated by the establishment there, so the rhetoric from time to time against them.

On a side note, if one follows Nawaz and Najam, invariably what gets hinted by Najam in his show, Nawaz and PML-N tend to pick it up in the following days though Najam can be quite critical of them from time to time.

 

[prahladh]

Nice move. take another unilateral step and pull troops out of PoK

 

[trackwhack]

time to take GB

 

[nitesh]

all paki talk, they are not even neaqr the Siachin, if they dare come, IA will push a big danda in there a$$.

Let them run away from wherever they are. IA should not leave Siachin

 

[ejazr]

@thakur_ritesh

Ofcourse, the Kargil war had some sort of tacit understanding from Nawaz. All he can claim is that he was mislead on how sucessful Mushrarraf would be in his operations or precisely how indigenous the Kargil war would be. But that is the 1990s Nawaz

I think that any political force that works to cut down PA/ISI influence in the foreign policy domain is a good thing. Wether its Nawaz Sharif or anyone else. And so even rhetorically speaking what Nawaz is saying is a good thing even if it does achieve that in reality
http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/china/22520-pak-army-control-foreign-policy-should-end-nawaz.html

 

[Ray]

Pakistan is at a disadvantage in the Siachen and so all this big talk.

Why not Pakistan not make a big ego issue in Kashmir and pull out from there.

Further, it maybe a trap designed by China. Pakistan will pull out and so will India and China shall walk in not being a party to the agreement.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.

 

[Vishwarupa]

Whether Pakis leave Siachen or not it does not matter to us. If they try crossing Indian borders they know for sure they will be kicked from top. Such statements should not be given any importance, pakis know that they are not in a good position in siachen & lots of money is required to hold Siachen hence such statements. Its a different way of begging.

Anyways if at all they want to make any difference let them unilaterally leave GB & POK.

 

[Godless-Kafir]

Trust me or not Nawaz Sheriff and Vajpyee where the ones who where going to solve the K-dispute but Mushraff saw what was happening and he did a coup.

Yet we praise Mushraff and know nothing of Nawaz sheriff, he even said it was time to forget and move on from K.

 

[Blackwater]

nawaz sharif is a "paki khota"(paki donkey)

he is the same guy who know doesn't know about kargil and ran to Clinton to save is salwar

 

[mayfair]

nawaz sharif is a "paki khota"(paki donkey)

he is the same guy who know doesn't know about kargil and ran to Clinton to save is salwar

Au contraire, in the Hajam Sethi video you posted yesterday, Sethi sahab claimed that Mian sahab was fully aware of the operation and was excited by the possibility of being the one to unfurl the sabz-e-parcham in Srinagar.