The head of Pakistan's powerful spy agency headed for Washington on Wednesday for unscheduled talks, the military said, days after the United States suspended a third of military aid over deepening tensions in their relationship.
Few details were available about Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha's one-day trip, but it comes at a time when the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the military's intelligence wing, is under intense pressure to sever ties with militant groups including those it has long nurtured as assets in Afghanistan and India.
Relations between the intelligence establishments of the two countries have been on a downward spiral since January after a CIA contractor killed two Pakistanis with joint operations against militants suspended soon after.
Then, in May, the killing of Osama bin Laden in a secret raid by U.S. special forces further damaged the relationship, with Pakistan branding the operation a violation of its sovereignty.
Pasha was going to Washington to "coordinate intelligence matters," the military said in a one-line statement and an official said it signaled efforts to patch up ties.
"Relations have not broken down. Intelligence sharing is going on... We are talking to each other despite difficulties," the senior military official said on condition of anonymity.
In Washington, a U.S. official, on condition of anonymity, said Pasha was meeting some intelligence officials.
Incensed over the bin Laden raid, Pakistan drastically cut the number of U.S. military trainers allowed in the country and also set clear terms for U.S. intelligence activities in the country.
Washington responded by saying it would hold back $800 million -- a third of $2 billion in security assistance -- in a show of displeasure over the cutback of military trainers, limits on visa for U.S. personnel and other bilateral irritants.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani expressed concerns over the U.S. suspension of some of the assistance.
"It is our military. We have concerns about (the suspension of) aid because we are in the middle of the war on terrorism and extremism," Gilani told a news conference in the southwestern city of Quetta.
"It's our own war but we are fighting this war for the entire world. For the peace, prosperity and progress of the whole world. The entire world is benefiting from this war."
Gilani's concern ran counter to a statement by the Pakistani military which played down the impact of the U.S. aid suspension saying that it would fight the militants with its "own resources."
Relentless missile strikes by U.S. drone aircraft in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border are also a major bone of contention.
Despite protests by Pakistan in public, the United States has continued the strikes, killing at least 48 suspected militants this week, one of the largest death tolls to date in the controversial air bombing campaign. Reuters
