Islamabad:
Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has told the country's lawmakers that the US "will have to think 10 times" before opting for a unilateral military offensive in North Waziristan.
General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani explained this on Tuesday during a rare briefing to two parliamentary defense committees. The briefing followed increased U.S. pressure on Pakistan to crack down on the Haqqani militant network believed to be based in the country's North Waziristan tribal area along the Afghan border.
A participant quoted the General as rejecting the US allegations that Pakistan was using the Taliban-linked Haqqani network for waging a proxy war in Afghanistan and said that his country was a part of solution, not the problem.
General Kayani allegedly said: "If somebody convinces me that military action in North Waziristan will resolve all problems, I am ready to go for it tomorrow," he said.
The Dawn, a Pakistani daily reports that the General told the committees that "the US had been told that Pakistan did not need military aid, adding that he had received a call from Washington asking if he meant it. My reply was we mean what we say'."