Pakistani officials snapped back at the US for saying its spy agency was aiding a militant group that targets Americans, and warned Washington that such accusations could sink their alliance.
Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called the charges by US Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, "very unfortunate and not based on facts".
Earlier yesterday, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told an Indian news channel that "pointing fingers at each other will not help". Ms Khar was in the US for the UN General Assembly.
"We've never ventured into the blame game because we want to be a mature, responsible country," she said.
Admiral Mullen told Congress on Thursday that he believed the Haqqani network, a militant group linked to the Afghan Taliban and blamed by the US for an attack last week on its embassy in Kabul, was a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence military spy agency.
Gen Kayani, in a statement issued by the Pakistani military overnight Friday, denied "accusations of proxy war and ISI support to Haqqanis".
He said, "Admiral Mullen knows fully well which…countries are in contact with the Haqqanis. Singling out Pakistan is neither fair nor productive."
A Pakistani military official said the statement was intended to point out that the US has been in contact with the Haqqanis as part of efforts to start peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan. US officials haven't revealed who they have contacted in promoting negotiations.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney yesterday repeated the US government's concerns about the links between the Pakistanis and the Haqqani network.
"It is critical that the government of Pakistan break any links they have, and take strong and immediate action against this network so that they are no longer a threat to the United States or to the people of Pakistan," Mr Carney said.
But Pakistan's Foreign Minister said the US hasn't shared any evidence with Pakistan about how it knows the ISI is aiding the Haqqani network.
A spokesman for the ISI, which is part of the military, declined to comment. ISI officials in the past have claimed to have severed links with the Haqqanis, a group they nurtured during the 1980s war in Afghanistan.
In Pakistan, Admiral Mullen's comments, which escalated accusations against Pakistan by the US, were viewed as a tactical manoeuvre by Washington to force Pakistan to attack Haqqani havens on its territory.
Pakistan has refused to mount an invasion of Haqqani strongholds in North Waziristan, saying its military forces have their hands full fighting other Taliban-affiliated groups on its border with Afghanistan. Military officials say the US should stop Haqqani fighters on the Afghan side of the border, and complain that their own troops come under attack from Pakistani Taliban militants sheltering in Afghanistan.
The US has tried a series of measures to get Pakistan to act, including a vote last Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee to make US aid for Pakistan conditional on military action against the Haqqanis.
Admiral Mullen's charge that Pakistan isn't only failing to clamp down on Haqqani havens, but also is providing strategic support to the militant group, represented an increase in pressure. Pakistani newspapers yesterday noted this change in tone from the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Satff, who in the past has been supportive of Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts.
Some commentators said Pakistan sees links with the Haqqani network as a way to ensure that it maintains a strong hand in Afghanistan - and can counter Indian influence there - once US troops leave, which is scheduled for 2014.
"Pakistan would rather retain its assets than sacrifice them. Thus, its relationship with the US is unlikely to improve," wrote Khalid Aziz, chairman of the Regional Institute of Policy Research, a Peshawar-based think tank, in the daily newspaper, Dawn.
Mahmood Shah, a retired army brigadier who meets with Gen Kayani, urged the US to make public any evidence it has of ISI involvement with the Haqqani network. He said that he didn't believe Pakistan any longer had control over the Haqqani network, a group of ethnic Pashtun Afghans with a reputation as fierce fighters.
Pakistan's military is under domestic pressure as well. Mehreen-Zahra Malik, assistant editor of The News, a Pakistan newspaper, wrote of the danger that Pakistan was fast losing its few remaining supporters in Washington.
"The options for Pakistan have tremendously shrunk," she wrote in an editorial yesterday. "If we have influence over the Taliban, we should use it to bring them to the table. If we don't have influence over them, we need to fight them - there is no third option."
Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called the charges by US Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, "very unfortunate and not based on facts".
Earlier yesterday, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told an Indian news channel that "pointing fingers at each other will not help". Ms Khar was in the US for the UN General Assembly.
"We've never ventured into the blame game because we want to be a mature, responsible country," she said.
Admiral Mullen told Congress on Thursday that he believed the Haqqani network, a militant group linked to the Afghan Taliban and blamed by the US for an attack last week on its embassy in Kabul, was a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence military spy agency.
Gen Kayani, in a statement issued by the Pakistani military overnight Friday, denied "accusations of proxy war and ISI support to Haqqanis".
He said, "Admiral Mullen knows fully well which…countries are in contact with the Haqqanis. Singling out Pakistan is neither fair nor productive."
A Pakistani military official said the statement was intended to point out that the US has been in contact with the Haqqanis as part of efforts to start peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan. US officials haven't revealed who they have contacted in promoting negotiations.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney yesterday repeated the US government's concerns about the links between the Pakistanis and the Haqqani network.
"It is critical that the government of Pakistan break any links they have, and take strong and immediate action against this network so that they are no longer a threat to the United States or to the people of Pakistan," Mr Carney said.
But Pakistan's Foreign Minister said the US hasn't shared any evidence with Pakistan about how it knows the ISI is aiding the Haqqani network.
A spokesman for the ISI, which is part of the military, declined to comment. ISI officials in the past have claimed to have severed links with the Haqqanis, a group they nurtured during the 1980s war in Afghanistan.
In Pakistan, Admiral Mullen's comments, which escalated accusations against Pakistan by the US, were viewed as a tactical manoeuvre by Washington to force Pakistan to attack Haqqani havens on its territory.
Pakistan has refused to mount an invasion of Haqqani strongholds in North Waziristan, saying its military forces have their hands full fighting other Taliban-affiliated groups on its border with Afghanistan. Military officials say the US should stop Haqqani fighters on the Afghan side of the border, and complain that their own troops come under attack from Pakistani Taliban militants sheltering in Afghanistan.
The US has tried a series of measures to get Pakistan to act, including a vote last Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee to make US aid for Pakistan conditional on military action against the Haqqanis.
Admiral Mullen's charge that Pakistan isn't only failing to clamp down on Haqqani havens, but also is providing strategic support to the militant group, represented an increase in pressure. Pakistani newspapers yesterday noted this change in tone from the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Satff, who in the past has been supportive of Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts.
Some commentators said Pakistan sees links with the Haqqani network as a way to ensure that it maintains a strong hand in Afghanistan - and can counter Indian influence there - once US troops leave, which is scheduled for 2014.
"Pakistan would rather retain its assets than sacrifice them. Thus, its relationship with the US is unlikely to improve," wrote Khalid Aziz, chairman of the Regional Institute of Policy Research, a Peshawar-based think tank, in the daily newspaper, Dawn.
Mahmood Shah, a retired army brigadier who meets with Gen Kayani, urged the US to make public any evidence it has of ISI involvement with the Haqqani network. He said that he didn't believe Pakistan any longer had control over the Haqqani network, a group of ethnic Pashtun Afghans with a reputation as fierce fighters.
Pakistan's military is under domestic pressure as well. Mehreen-Zahra Malik, assistant editor of The News, a Pakistan newspaper, wrote of the danger that Pakistan was fast losing its few remaining supporters in Washington.
"The options for Pakistan have tremendously shrunk," she wrote in an editorial yesterday. "If we have influence over the Taliban, we should use it to bring them to the table. If we don't have influence over them, we need to fight them - there is no third option."
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