President Obama’s decision to deploy an additional 30,000 troops in Afghanistan has obscured an equally important development: the intensification of U.S operations in Pakistan.

According to the New York Times, the C.I.A recently presented a plan to President Obama proposing an expansion of drone strikes in Pakistan, an increase in C.I.A spies and a bolstered budget for agency operations in the country. The plan mirrors Washington’s rejuvenated commitment to Afghan security, and ultimately hopes to link up with the Pakistani military’s ongoing campaign in South Waziristan. This would keep pressure on Afghan and Pakistan Taliban militants in Pakistan’s FATA region.

The plan itself is incendiary for sovereignty-minded Pakistani government officials, and can be interpreted as the dawn of a tougher U.S stance on Pakistan. There are several indications that, at the very least, portions of the highly classified plan have been implemented, as evidenced by subtle shifts in how the Obama administration is treating its Pakistani counterpart.

There is no better indicator of a tougher stance than President Obama’sdecision to resurrect the long-dead specter of Pakistan nuclear weapons in a recent speech. Pakistani government officials cringe at such mentions, for it feeds into fears within the Pakistani security establishment that the security of Pakistani nukes will one day serve as justification for an American intervention in Pakistan. The widening of drone strikes to Pakistan’s Baluchistan province is also notable, because any civilian casualties in strikes against Taliban militants will inevitably embolden Baluchistan separatist elements.

This all takes place against the backdrop of a terminally weak Pakistani government in Islamabad. President Zardari is facing down Supreme Court deliberations over the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)- a corruption amnesty introduced by the Musharraf government. If the NRO is scuttled, standing parliamentarians as well as the President himself could lose their office, a development that would throw the government into chaos.