Abbottabad operation: experts urge government to lodge formal protest with US

The defence and foreign policy experts urged the government to lodge formal protest against Abbottabad operation with US and take the international community into confidence on this count. They were speaking at a seminar on 'War on terror: Post-Osama Regime' organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Monday.
Defence analyst Lieutenant General (Retd) Talat Masood, former ambassador Tariq Fatimi, chairman DSS, Quaid-e-Azam University, Dr Riffat Hussain and Dr Abid Suleri agreed that the Abbottabad raid brought humiliation to the entire nation. Tariq Fatimi said that it was a humiliating incident for Pakistanis and the nation was stunned and embarrassed on what happened in Abbottabad.
He said that Pak-US relations were at the crossroad and suggested both the sides to refrain from emotional statements as it would only add fuel to the fire. He also demanded end to contradictory statements by different institutions of the country. Tariq said," If Pakistan does not launch a formal protest against US's unilateral operation it would set a precedent for other countries to emulate."
He also questioned the government why a formal protest could not be launched so far against US following the 12-point resolution passed by the joint session of the parliament. He said defence budget should be discussed in detail by the parliament unlike the current year budget.
Dr Riffat Hussain said America could press Pakistan to sign Fissile Material Treaty. Moreover, it may ask the government to recognise the greater role of India in stability of Afghanistan. It may also stress the government to play its own role effectively in countering insurgency in Afghanistan. He said that he did not think cut in aid to Pakistan was a viable option for US. May be it would attach more conditionalties with aid, he said.
Lieutenant General Talat Masood (Retd) said the bin Laden's presence and surgical operation by US Navy SEAL did not mean that Pakistan is failed state but it was the failure of institutions. He said, "Pakistan could not live in isolation. We have family of Osama bin Laden who could provide crucial information about bin Laden's hide out in Pakistan."
This also provides a golden opportunity to overcome weaknesses and strengthen internal security mechanism, he said. Dr Abid said that time has come that political leadership of country should define the security threats to country. He urged that security agencies should also reprioritize the areas of investigations and enhance the level of tolerance to face criticism.