Pakistan unblocks NATO routes

Just as soon as an apology was tendered by Washington for last year’s Salala check post deaths, Islamabad announced the lifting of a seven-month-long ban on vital Nato supply routes for foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan.

The much-anticipated decision was taken at a high-powered gathering of the country’s civil and military leadership in the wake of the recent developments indicating that the two sides were close to a deal.

The Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and attended by key federal ministers as well as services and intelligence chiefs.

“The DCC has decided in principle to reopen the Nato supply routes,” Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told reporters outside the Prime Minister House.

The minister said that the government has decided to move beyond the Salala incident after the US showed “flexibility” in its stance by tendering an “apology.” More