Context
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Mallik told reporters Pakistan would not tolerate any incursions into its territory. These remarks were made by the minister on Thursday while addressing concerns of US presence in the region. Malik told reporters “The Pakistan nation will not allow the boots on our ground, never. Our government is already cooperating with the US … but they also must respect our sovereignty,”
The US had been critical of Pakistan’s efforts in combating terrorism; Washington alleges the ISI has links with the militant Haqqani network. Earlier this week, Admiral Mike Mullen accused ISI of using the network to wage a proxy war in Afghanistan.
Malik said that if the US had any intelligence regarding terrorists in Pakistan, they should provide the information to Islamabad so it could take action against the extremists.
