The political chaos in the country following Yousf Razilani's disqualification as Prime Minister by the apex court on Tuesday may further delay Islamabad's re-engagement with Washington. The latest upheaval comes amid reports of a near breakthrough in the stalled on-going dialogue process.
Washington was said to be near accepting Islamabad's demand for an unconditional apology for the Salala incident in return got Islamabad's re-opening the ground lines of communication (GLOC) for Nato forces in Afghanistan. Analysts argued that the process of normalisation of ties between the two countries might face further delays and that the latest upheavals made a speedy resolution unlikely.
US Embassy's Acting Spokesperson Robert Raines termed the current political developments Pakistan's internal matter and expressed the optimism that the government would resolve internal issues in a transparent manner as guided by the country's Constitution.
"As we've said all along, we expect Pakistan to resolve any of its internal issues in a just and transparent manner that upholds the Pakistani laws and Constitution," Raines said. Diplomatic sources said that foreign diplomats were keenly observing the situation.
"We are hopeful that Pakistan's government is able to resolve the matter through the country's Constitution and...the democratic process will sustain in the country," said a Western diplomat. According to analysts, if Prime Minister Gilani did not step down, the apex court could call on the president or the military to enforce the decision that could bring an institutional deadlock, raising the specter of a military take-over.