Thaindian News

Islamabad, April 2(ANI): The Pakistan Government has given a one-year service extension to Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, as it is “very much the right of the government,” Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.

In response to a question by one of the interviewers during an appearance on Dawn News and the state-run Pakistan Television, Gilani said that his government had decided to keep General Pasha on the job for another year due to the prevailing security situation in the country.

When pressed by the interviewer over why the government could not pick a successor from within the army, Gilani said: “Why there is confusion over the extension of ISI Chief? It is very much the right of the government, and we have given him one year’s extension in the same position.”

His remark was the first official word about the period of extension given to the ISI chief following intense speculation about the new tenure, with some media reports saying that the military establishment wanted it to be for two years until a three-year extension given to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ends in 2013.

About his ‘cricket diplomacy’ visit to India on March 30 to watch the Indo-Pak World Cup semi-final clash at Mohali, Gilani said that he and his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh had agreed in principle to start dialogue on all outstanding issues between their countries, including the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir.

The prime minister, however, sidestepped a question as to whether Islamabad had given up its earlier stance for a third-party involvement to help resolve Indo-Pak disputes- a proposition opposed by New Delhi.

Gilani said that there was an increased realisation by the two governments about the need for a speedy resolution of their common problems, and added: “We have to have ownership of our issues.” (ANI)