Pak Defence Secretary retracts 'US, UK were against country's nuke programme' statement

The 'disclosures' from Defence Secretary LT-Gen (retd) Asif Yasin Malik on the 'grey areas' concerning the strategic relationship between Pakistan and the United States apparently put him into trouble making him retract his statement.

In an informal interaction with selective journalists from electronic media on Friday, the defence secretary was said to have spoken his mind on the presumed threats to Pakistan's nuclear programme, contending that the US and United Kingdom were against it.

According to the Nation, he was also quoted to have said that the spies from the foreign intelligence agencies were not allowed to operate undercover in Pakistan and the military authorities had complete information about the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) secret agents operating in Pakistan.

Moreover, Malik also purportedly stated that Washington's (toughened) tone and tenor towards Pakistan was 'changing' and there were no Black Water marines here anymore, the report said.

According to the report, skeptical about the secretary's claims about the PIA, the journalists were less inclined to know about the state-run airlines' presumed road to recovery from the unprecedented losses and were more interested in seeking answers to the questions shaping the crucial patterns, evolving the Pak-US strategic relationship, which have never been officially answered by the top quarters concerned.

The problem started when one of the journalists aired the news quoting the defence secretary on his views regarding the nuclear programme and the CIA agents.

Aggrieved and panicked, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) wasted no time in contacting the media outlet concerned requesting it to replace the attribution made to the retired general to "Zarai" (sources) and not to air the part of the media talk concerning the 'grey areas,' the report added. (ANI)