Pakistan successfully tested a nuclear capable-intermediate range ballistic missile Hatf IV (Shaheen-1A) on Wednesday. The exact range of the missile was not announced. A few unconfirmed media reports have claimed the range to be around 4,500 km. The test occurred only a week after rival India test-fired a long range inter continental ballistic missile (ICBM) Agni-V with a range of 5,000 km.

On Tuesday, Pakistan had also commissioned its first fast attack craft, PNS Azmat, built in cooperation with China.

“Its immense firepower coupled with stealthy features makes it a real versatile platform which would not only prove vital for ensuring effective presence in our area of operations, but would bring a new dimension of operation of stealthy platform of this tonnage,” Admiral Muhammad Sandila of Pakistan Navy stated at the commissioning ceremony.

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The Department of Defense (DOD) is aiming to upgrade its espionage capabilities by creating the Defense Clandestine Service. According to a Washington Post report, the new service will closely work with CIA as the missions of both increasingly converge. Previous attempts by DOD to create such functionality were constrained due to concerns over duplication.

The Defense Clandestine Service has been created as a result of a classified report prepared by the Director of National Intelligence last year. The report had recommended that the military needs an espionage service that looks beyond the tactical needs of Iraq and Afghanistan and better incorporates intelligence on demographic and political landscape of the battlefield, often referred to as the Human Terrain System.

Defending President Obama’s new defense strategy at the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Gen Dempsey recently stated that US plans to develop a military,

“that can deter and defeat threats at every point along the spectrum of conflict, from lone individuals or terrorist groups to middleweight militaries packing a new punch, and all the way up to near-peer competitors.”

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Context
Gen Mattis and Gen Allen arrived in Pakistan today to meet senior Pakistan military officials, including Gen Kiyani. PM Gilani and President Obama met in Seoul on Tuesday. After the Salala check post incident last November, Pakistan suspended NATO’s Afghan supply lines, initiated a policy review of its ties with the US, and demanded a formal apology.

These high-level meetings are taking place as the Afghan war has increasingly taken a turn for the worse and mistrust between Afghan Security Forces and NATO troops is on the increase. According to media reports on Tuesday, more than a dozen Afghan soldiers were arrested on allegations of plotting to attack the Afghan Defense Ministry, and 10 suicide jackets were found inside the heavily guarded ministry. The arrests of afghan soldiers have also raised fears of backlash from Afghan forces, following spike in attacks on Nato troops. The incident puts a question mark on the ability of afghan forces to take over security responsibilities after US withdrawal.

In the aftermath of the killing of 16 civilians by a US soldier in Panjwaii District, Taliban suspended the Doha peace talks. After the incident, Afghan President Hamid Karzai had informed the US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that foreign troops should be pulled out of Afghanistan’s remote areas, and the transition process of security responsibilities should be completed by 2013, instead of 2014.

Highly controversial tactics of Night-time raids and drone strikes, conducted by US, have also bedeviled its relations with both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

No Change In US Strategy

Despite the setbacks, US officials have emphasized to continue the policy as is. Gen John Allen, Commander of NATO and US forces in Afghanistan recently stated that he has not decided yet on launching offensive in eastern Afghanistan. However, he said,

“We anticipate shifting resources to the east in any case because it remains there that the principal COIN (counterinsurgency) fight will ultimately be shaped in 2012.”

He also criticized Pakistan for allowing al-Qaeda to operate with impunity, and Iran, which he said fuels insurgency.

Speaking at the Brooking Institute in Washington DC on Marc 26, Gen Allen, stated that it is no surprise that ISI has links with the terror groups as they have historically had relations with them.

“So we shouldn’t be surprised they have a relationship with them, but I would not speculate on what specific operational support they have or whether they’re an action arm. I would just say that the relationship potentially is unhelpful in that regard,” Allen said.

He also commented that a number of preventive measures have been taken to avert the recurrence of Salala check post type incident. He added that several high-level meetings have been held among officials of ISAF, ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) and Pakistan, to begin the process of restoring the border relationship.

Gen Allen emphasized on the potential for complementary operations to purge the area of safe havens and the terrorists. Depending on Pakistan’s parliamentary review, he commented; US and Pakistan can talk about combining capabilities for joint operations. He was probably sending a message to the Pakistan military, indicating flexibility on the joint use of drones.

Gilani, Obama Meeting

US President Barack Obama and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Raza Gilani also met in Seoul on Tuesday and vowed to salvage the troubled alliance.

Both leaders expressed the desire to bring the relationship back on track. Obama said, “But I welcome the fact that the parliament of Pakistan is reviewing, after some extensive study, the nature of this relationship.”

Obama and Gilani stressed on stabilizing and securing the situation in Afghanistan. Gilani said Pakistan is interested in a stable and secure Afghanistan and the region and is ready to work with the US.

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Officials from the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) said that the shield locked onto the two incoming nuclear missiles, and destroyed them over the Bay of Bengal. DRDO jointly developed the system’s tracking and fire control radar with Israel and France. India is the fifth state to achieve this missile defense technology.

India’s longest-range nuclear missile, Agni IV, is capable of travelling 3500 kilometers. The country has announced it will soon test a nuclear capable missile that can travel over 5000 kilometers.

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According to The Washington Post, CIA is expected to maintain a large covert presence in Iraq and Afghanistan even after the withdrawal of conventional US troops. The report adds that the intelligence organization has adopted three methods of traditional espionage in Iran: monitoring developments in the new government setup, suppressing al-Qaeda’s affiliates, and countering Iran’s influence.

On the other hand, the operational role in Afghanistan will be more aggressive and its paramilitary capabilities are considered important. The goal will be to keep the Taliban from consolidating and protecting the government in Kabul. Moreover, to maintain access to the Afghan airstrips used to launch drone strikes in Pakistan and to hunt down al-Qaeda remnants. Report indicates that CIA has financed and created the Afghan intelligence service and the organization maintains a number of bases along the border with Pakistan.

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