Islamabad: A marathon meeting of Pakistan's top political leaders has rejected as "baseless" US assertion that the ISI is using the Haqqani network to wage a proxy war in Afghanistan and backed the military in defeating "any threat to national security".
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani convened the meeting of political and religious parties on Thursday against the backdrop of growing tensions with the US and threats of unilateral American military action against militants holed up in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
Without naming the US, a resolution adopted at the end of nine-hour meeting said the political leadership had "rejected the recent assertions and baseless allegations made against Pakistan" as they were "without substance and derogatory to a partnership approach".
The resolution called for a "new direction and policy with a focus on peace and reconciliation", saying Pakistan "must initiate dialogue with a view to negotiate peace with our own people in the tribal areas".
A mechanism for this dialogue should be put in place, it added.
In an apparent response to US threats of unilateral action against militant groups like the Haqqani network, the resolution said: "The Pakistani nation affirms its full solidarity and support for the armed forces of Pakistan in defeating any threat to national security."
The defence of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity will never be compromised and national interests will guide the country's policy and response to all challenges, the resolution said.
The resolution did not elaborate on the term "own people" and observers contended it could be include militant groups, including the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, that operate in the tribal belt.
"'Give peace a chance' must be the guiding central principle henceforth," said the resolution. The marathon meeting was attended by leaders of some 30 parties and Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
The gathering was briefed by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Inter-Services Intelligence agency chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha on Pakistan's security environment and the regional situation.
Observers noted that the call for negotiations to settle the unrest in the tribal areas marked a paradigm shift in Pakistan's security policy.
The government has so far followed a policy of launching military operations and backing tribal 'lashkars' or militias to take on Taliban fighters in the seven semi-autonomous tribal districts bordering Afghanistan.
As he opened the meeting on Thursday, Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan could not be pressured to "do more" in the war on terror.
He called for focussing on "positive and responsible ways" to resolve differences with the US.
Media reports said ISI chief Pasha, in his presentation at the meeting, explained that the Haqqani network was "open to negotiations" and the Americans should focus on dialogue for lasting peace in Afghanistan instead of taking the militant group "head on".
Pasha rejected a perception that the ISI was working with the Haqqanis in Afghanistan.
Pasha also reportedly told the meeting that various militant factions operating in the region along the Afghan border were hostile to Pakistan.
The military leadership wanted the meeting of political parties to "send a strong message to the US but cautioned against taking the situation to a point of no return in relations with the US", the Dawn newspaper reported.
The resolution further said Pakistan's relations with Afghanistan should be enhanced at the government-to- government, institution-to-institution and people-to-people levels.
At the same time, it called for Pakistan to "enhance its self-reliance comprehensively" so that trade and not aid is the way forward.
"We should also focus on internal economic and tax reforms as well as resource mobilisation and the curbing of corruption," the resolution said.
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan told reporters after the meeting that the political leadership of the country had decided to give peace a chance because there had been "enough use of military power to no avail".
Former minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the head of the Awami Muslim League, told the media that the meeting had been informed that Pakistan had nothing to do with the militant wing of the Haqqani network but it had a desire to hold talks with its political wing.
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