The blowback from the NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last week is continuing. The Pakistani cabinet decided that it will not attend the December 4-5 conference in Bonn Germany that is set to discuss the future of Afghanistan.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that her government will try to persuade Pakistani officials to change their minds as Pakistan's presence at the conference designed to contemplate ways of stabilizing Afghanistan following the withdrawal of coalition forces is vital. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner told reporters that attending the conference was in Pakistan's interests as well as that country, to have a very peaceful and stable Afghanistan.
The US still has not issued an apology on the incident aside from calling it "tragic" and is withholding further comment pending an investigation. There is still uncertainty about what brought on the strike, with Afghani officials claiming that NATO and Afghan forces had come under fire. Another hypothesis being advanced is that the Taliban attacked in a un-demarcated border region to create confusion and provoke an attack on the Pakistani position in order to sow discord.
China is fanning the flames of hostility between Washington and Islamabad by commenting that the United States and NATO constantly violate international law and international norms. It goes on to say that “this shows… that at crucial moments, the United States will not show the slightest hesitation to violate the sovereignty of another nation to ensure its ‘absolute security.’ ”