Islamabad: Islamabad and Washington are discussing a new method that would lead to the cessation of the controversial American drone campaign in Pakistan’s tribal regions, an official has said.
“The two sides have covered some ground towards finding alternatives to missile attacks by CIA’s remotely-piloted aircraft,” said a top government official, who is part of the ongoing talks.
The official said the US has agreed to explore other options after Pakistan made it abundantly clear that drone strikes were unacceptable, the Express Tribune reports.
He, however, did not give any timeframe nor revealed what alternatives the two countries could exercise in the absence of drones, which the US believes are critical to eliminating high-value targets associated with al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Earlier, Islamabad had suggested using F-16 fighter jets as an alternative to drones to take out wanted militants.
The US had reportedly shown little interest in the proposal.
ANI
