US says ties with Pakistan vital

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US says ties with Pakistan vital

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Pentagon has said US ties with Pakistan are vital to American security efforts in Afghanistan.

12 March,2012 02:55 am

The Pentagon has expressed confidence that the United States and Pakistan would be able to find more common ground to forge close cooperative ties, as a top general acknowledged the importance of America relationship with the key South Asian country.Gen James Mattis, the head of the Central Command, who recently called on Islamabads ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman, said the US relationship with Pakistan has been vital to American security efforts in Afghanistan, despite some differences between the two countries.It is a crucial relationship but its been a challenging relationship, and its been prone to recriminations on both sides. But the bottom line is that this is a critical relationship, Mattis told US lawmakers during a testimony this week.The Centcom Chief spoke as the Parliament in Islamabad neared completion of a review to provide guidelines for future relationship with the United States following deaths of two dozen Pakistani soldiers in Nov 26, 2011 NATO air strikes onPakistani check posts from across the Afghan border, an incident which led to closure of NATO supply routes and prompted a Parliamentary review.This week State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland also underlined the importance of US ties with Pakistan this week, saying Washington wants to see the bilateral relationship improve.The US Administration is seeking Congressional approval for over two billion dollars in economic and security assistance for Pakistan in the overall budget for the new fiscal year beginning Octobe 1, 2012. In a series of hearings, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Pentagon leaders have been stressing to Congress the importance of US-Pakistan ties as well as the critical significance of Pakistans cooperation to American security efforts in Afghanistan.In his appearance on the Capitol Hill, Gen Mattis recognized Pakistans military success against the Taliban in Swat valley a couple of years ago. He told skeptical lawmakers that Pakistani military continues its fight against Taliban militants at great cost.