NATO supplies from Pakistani airspace never stopped: Pentagon

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NATO supplies from Pakistani airspace never stopped: Pentagon

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Pentagon has said that air supply routes from Pakistan were never closed.

10 February,2012 01:36 am

Pentagon press secretary, George Little has said during a briefing Thursday that the air supply routes were never closed by Pakistan. He was commenting on a question regarding US ambassador in Pakistan, Cameron Munters statement made earlier in the day that NATO supply has resumed from Pakistani airspace.Only ground lines of communications were closed following the November 26 incident, he said adding that these ground routes had not been reopened yet. We are hopeful that they would be reopened soon, he observed while conceding thatit is a decision for the Pakistani government to make. Pakistan had closed down these routes in protest after the November 26 NATO airstrikes on Salala check-post in Mohmand Agency that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.It may be mentioned here that following the closure of ground supply routes from Pakistan, United States has shifted the bulk of supply for NATO forces in Afghanistan through the northern supply routes from Central Asian states. Although this route proves costlier for US, but at present almost 70 percent of NATO supplies are being transported through this route, sources informed Dunya News.In a separate briefing, US State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland was asked about Pakistani foreign ministry spokespersons statement that the US authorities and their embassy in Islamabad had been apprised of concerns over the discussion on Balochistan in Washington.Ms. Nuland, however, expressed ignorance about any such development. I am unaware about this. We have not been intimated anything officially by Pakistan in this regard, she pointed out.A subcommittee of the US Congress Foreign Relations Committee had held a hearing on the killings and human rights in Balochistan on Wednesday. The State Department spokesperson, though, had distanced the administration from the said hearing on Wednesday as well in response to another question.The Congress holds hearings on many foreign affairs topics. These hearings don’t necessarily imply that the US government endorses one view or another view. I would underscore that the State Department is not participating or involved in this hearing today, she had argued while clearly stating that the US administration was not supporting demands for an independent Balochistan.- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC