Don’t advise us on troops deployment: Kayani

Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on saturday made it clear that he would not be swayed by “outside advice” about shifting troops from the border with India, saying any suggestion on “where, when and how” many troops would be deployed would be “counter-productive”.

Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on saturday made it clear that he would not be swayed by “outside advice” about shifting troops from the border with India, saying any suggestion on “where, when and how” many troops would be deployed would be “counter-productive”.

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Referring to “a lot of comments from various quarters” about shifting Pakistani troops from the eastern border with India to Western frontier, Kayani said “strategic decisions regarding where, when and how many troops are deployed in each operation or sector is always a Pakistani decision”.

“Any outside advice (or) subjective comments towards this end is counter-productive and divisive in effect rather than helpful,” Kayani said. Since he was appointed army chief by former President Pervez Musharraf in late 2007, Kayani has refrained from speaking to the media.

Kayani broke his silence in the wake of several media reports that said the US wants Pakistan to shift troops from the border with India to focus on the offensive against the Taliban in the country’s northwest.