Pakistan unlikely to act on terror: WikiLeaks

Regardless of all the aid it gets from United States, Pakistan is unlikely to abandon its covert backing of terror outfits operating from its soil, the leaked cables from WikiLeaks say.

Part of the huge contingent of classified ?cables? or diplomatic communiqu?s that were posted on the Internet by the whistle-blowing website, a 2009 message from the then U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan has brought this biting revelation to light.

In the candid assessment of Pakistan?s stand on terror groups, Ambassador Anne Patterson had written to Washington on Sep. 23, 2009 that Pakistan considered terrorism as an ?important part of its national security apparatus against India.?

And therefore, Patterson said, there was ?no chance? that increased U.S. assistance to the country would persuade Pakistan to abandon its support for terror outfits.

She appraises that American engagement with its rival neighbour only drove the ?paranoid? Pakistani establishment even closer to anti-India militancy cells.

“American policy to improve ties with India feeds Pakistani establishment paranoia and pushes them closer to both Afghan and Kashmir focused terrorist groups,? wrote Patterson.

?Resolving the Kashmir dispute, which lies at the core of Pakistan’s support for terrorist groups, would dramatically improve the situation,? she added.

The former-ambassador went to on suggest that the U.S. should rearrange its foreign policy to appease Pakistan.

She wrote, “Increased Indian investment in, trade with, and development support to the Afghan government, which the US government has encouraged, causes Pakistan to embrace Taliban groups all the more closely. We need to reassess Indian involvement in Afghanistan and our own policies towards India.?

Patterson underscored Pakistan?s perception on Indo-Afghan ties as she wrote: ?The Pakistani establishment fears a pro-India government in Afghanistan would allow India to operate a proxy war against Pakistan from its territory.?

Mentioning Pakistan?s secret service agency, she had said that despite symbolic arrests of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jama’at-ud-Da’wah (JUD), it was unclear if the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had abandoned its use of these ?proxy forces? as a foreign policy tool.

The disclosure of Patterson’s assessments not only affirm long-held Indian assertions on its hostile nuclear-armed neighbour, but also leave both America and Pakistan somewhat egg-faced.

Reacting to the damning revelations on Wednesday, Pakistani administration slammed the leaks as “mischief” and ?malicious disclosures.”

Defying disapproval of the White House, WikiLeaks on Sunday had released over 250,000 diplomatic cables from U.S. embassies across the world from the past three years uncloaking the backroom bargains of world leaders and insight into their fears as well as the concerns of USA.

Much to the displeasure of the U.S. and causing it gross embarrassment, diplomatically distressing details come to light in instalments as journalists drudge through the piles of confidential data.