Pak concerned about 'negative implications' of US revamped Afghan strategy - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Close on the heels of President Obama's announcement of the revamped Afghan strategy, Pakistan has said that it is concerned about the negative implications of the new US policy in Afghanistan. Interacting with media persons while accompanying Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on his maiden visit to Germany, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said US Security Adviser General James Jones had called Gilani to take him into confidence on the Afghan strategy, but added that Islamabad is concerned about the massive surge in troops in the neighbour country. "Our issue is not how you deploy them (US troops in Afghanistan) and how you use them. We are only concerned about the negative implications. The more you coordinate with military authorities of Pakistan, the better it will be," The Daily Times quoted Qureshi, as saying. Islamabad has been continuously asking the Obama administration to consult it before finalising any new policy for Afghanistan. It has also expressed concerns regarding the US plans of deploying more troops in Helmand province, and fears that sending more soldiers in the region would force the Taliban to flee, which would then create more trouble in the insurgency hit Balochistan. It worth mentioning here that the US President Barack Obama has announced sending an additional 30,000 American troops to Afghanistan by next summer. He also said that he plans to have all surviving American troops back home by July 2011. Obama has also sought to reassure NATO allies and the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan that he was not abandoning the war effort, while pressurising them to make sure they hold up their end of the bargain.