No joint anti-terror operation with US: Pakistan

Islamabad: Pakistan has no plans to conduct a joint military operation with the US against the Taliban in the country, the army announced on Friday.

Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has "dispelled" the speculative reporting in the US media that a joint military operation is on the cards, Xinhua quoted the army as saying.

The US media had reported that Islamabad and Washington agreed to launch a joint anti-terror operation in North Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan.

It is important to distinguish between coordinated action and joint operation, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said.

It was reported that an agreement had been reached during talks between Pakistani intelligence chief Lt Gen Zaheer-ul-Islam and top CIA officials in Washington.

Gen Kayani has clarified Pakistan's position after his meeting with US Gen James N Mattis in the garrison city of Rawalpindi late Thursday.

It is important to distinguish between coordinated action and joint operation, Kayani said.

He said coordinated action implies that Pakistan Army and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) conduct operation on respective sides of the Pakistan-Afghan border.

Whereas a joint operation implies that the two forces are physically involved on either side of the border, an army statement quoted Kayani as saying.

"A joint operation in this sense is unacceptable to the people and armed forces of Pakistan," Kayani said.

The national interest will be the main consideration for any decision, he added.

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