Pakistan Army warns US against 'unilateral action' on its soil

A spokesperson for the Pakistani Army has said while it wants no conflict with friends, territorial integrity remains paramount.

Representational image of Pakistani Army soldiers.

In what may be Pakistan's strongest warning to the United States yet, its Army on Thursday warned that it would not allow 'unilateral action' on its soil - even if it is undertaken by friends.

Relations between Pakistan and the US have been steadily deteriorating after repeated warnings from Donald Trump administration asking Islamabad to crackdown on home-grown terrorist outfits. Several key figures in the US administration have also warned that the country would take matters into its own hands if Pakistan does not deliver. Pakistani Army though remains determined to protect its territorial integrity. "The armed forces are working with friends and want to continue doing so, but there can be no compromise on our national honour. We do not want a conflict with our friends, but will ensure the security of Pakistan,” said Pakistani Army spokes­person Maj Gen Asif Gha­foor.

DG ISPR Press Conference https://t.co/ajHk9MTzJR — Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) December 28, 2017

His statement comes on the backdrop of repeated warnings from the US. CIA Director Mike Pompeo earlier this month had said his country would ensure the elimination of “terrorist safe havens” in Pakistan. Earlier in the year, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in Pakistan with the same message. He later said that Islamabad was even warned terrorists in Afghanistan may soon begin looking at compromising Pakistan's territories if the country failed to act against those who supported them from their own country.

The reaction in Pakistan to US messages have been rather hostile. Security experts believe Pakistan is banking on its ties with China to counter US 'aggression' - even as it continues to maintain that it is a victim of terrorism and not its sponsor. Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif also said that the US must accept its failures and defeat in Afghanistan. "Their failures over the past 16 years in Afghanistan is before them. There will only be room for improvement if Washington accepts their defeat, their failures in Afghanistan," he had told Pakistani senate.

A media report in September said that China and Russia have assured Pakistan at the diplomatic level that they would veto any US move in the United Nations to slap economic sanctions on Islamabad over failure to eliminate terror safe havens.

In all of this, once firm allies - the US and Pakistan have now become suspicious of each other.