Since Pakistan is an integral part of the region and very crucial to any future security formulations, the absence of Pakistan's civilian leadership was noted but not with concern.

There was no obvious concern because the Pakistani delegation was led by Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Waheed Arshad Chaudhry.

Among other prominent Pakistani delegates were former Pakistani Army chief Gen. Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan's Ambassador to Bahrain Ikramullah Mehsud and ARY Television Group President Shahid Masood.

Pakistan was widely discussed in a special session on “Military Cooperation in the Region.” Besides Lt. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the panelists included Bahraini Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mohammad bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa; US Department of State Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro; and UK's Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Sir David Richards.

The one conclusion that emerged during the session was that Pakistan was not going to launch a military operation in North Waziristan anytime soon.

Those who attended the session quoted Chaudhry as saying that Pakistan would launch the attack at the time of its choosing.

“We will do it when we feel the need to do it, and the decision to go in will be entirely ours,” he was quoted as saying. His point of view of accepted by the American and British panelists.

“We understand the complexities of that region,” said Shapiro. “There are a host of problems,” admitted UK's Gen. David Richards. “We are on the same page as the Pakistani Army on the issue of north Waziristan.”

Both the British and American panelists repeatedly referred to their recent meetings with Pakistani Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani.

Not once did they mention the civilian leaders. “This clearly indicates that the international and regional powers are interested in talking only to the military leadership in Pakistan,” admitted Masood.

In fact, Masood did pose a question to the American and British panelists as to who they are dealing with in Pakistan. His question stemmed from the WikiLeaks disclosures.

The leaked cables clearly indicated that international leaders were talking separately to both the civilian and military leaderships. “My question was since there is a deep sense of suspicion about each other among the civilian and military leadership, who are the international leaders talking to in the post-WikiLeaks scenario?” said Masood.

He admitted that he did not get a clear-cut answer. However, the panelists were of the view that any military operation will need the backing of the political setup for it to succeed.

“Having said that, they again and again mentioned only the military leadership during their discourse at the key session,” he said.

“What it all indicates is that the weak civilian leadership does not inspire confidence among the world's leaders,” said Masood.

According to another Pakistani delegate at the summit, the Pakistani foreign minister should have been here.

“The regional leaders were inquiring about him. We don't know what his engagements were at home, but he should have been here to understand the fast-changing security scenario in our region,” he said. “His absence has been noted, especially since most of the countries were represented by their foreign and defense ministers, if not prime ministers.”

Masood, however, said the foreign minister's absence was a blessing in disguise. “In a sense, it was good that the foreign minister did not come, otherwise there would have been huge embarrassment for him,” he said.

“As has been suggested here in Manama, the world leaders, including the Indians, feel comfortable in talking only to the Pakistani military.”