Dec. 1: In the tense post 26/11 scenario, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had told the US that Islamabad would have no option but to respond militarily if India chose to launch an attack on its territory, secret US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show.
In a meeting with the then US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson on January 2, Mr Zardari had however assured that his government would not allow non-state actors to dictate state policy. Ms Patterson had called on Mr Zardari to discuss the follow-up to the Mumbai investigation, and Mr Zardari told her that there was no way that he could let India attack Pakistan. “There was no more politically sensitive issue in Pakistan than Kashmir,” Mr Zardari said according to the cable.
“Zardari said he had been briefed by Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha (the ISI chief) on his meeting with DCIA (Director of the Central Intelligence Agency), and he had approved the release of ‘tearline’ information to the Indians. He wanted to emphasise he (and General Kayani) were fully committed to better relations with India,” the cable said.
“He (Zardari) reminded the ambassador that it had only taken a ‘phone call’ from the US to ensure that Pakistan did not oppose the US/India civil nuclear deal at the Nuclear Suppliers Group,” it said.
“Zardari emphasised he had no problem making decisions, recalling that we had asked him to refuse the release of detainees in the context of ‘peace deals’ when the Army and ISI were pressing to do so,” the cable said. Mr Zardari also informed the US ambassador to Pakistan that “he had instructed his son Bilawal to name his sister, Faryal Talpur, as President” in the eventuality of his assassination, the Guardian reported on Wednesday.
According to the latest cache of WikiLeaks published by the British daily, Mr Zardari made extensive preparations in case of his own assassination. In 2009, Mr Zardari told Ms Patterson, that if he was assassinated, “he had instructed his son Bilawal to name his sister, Faryal Talpur, as President”.