Cabinet okays reopening of NATO supply routes

Pakistan

Cabinet okays reopening of NATO supply routes

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PM Pervaiz Ashraf chaired the Federal Cabinet meeting in Islamabad on Wednesday.

04 July,2012 02:06 pm

The Federal Cabinet endorsed the decision of DCC to reopen of NATO supply lines and also appreciated the deliberations of the participants of the Committee in this regard.Pakistan on Tuesday agreed to reopen key NATOsupply routes into Afghanistan, ending a bitter stand-off after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was sorry for air raid over Salala check post which claimed lives of 24 Pakistani soldiers.Later, a US official said that as part of the deal Washington will release about $1.1 billion to the Pakistani military from a US coalition support fund designed to reimburse Pakistan for the cost of counter-insurgency operations.The money had been frozen due to the tensions between the two countries.The agreement ends a seven-month diplomatic row that had seen US-Pakistan ties, already soured by the US killing of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, plunge to a new low and gravely impede US and NATO efforts in Afghanistan.The breakthrough, announced by Clinton after she spoke by telephone with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, follows months of negotiations.Islamabad, a key but wary ally in the fight against Taliban militants, had steadfastly insisted Washington should apologize for the November attack.Foreign Minister Khar and I acknowledged the mistakes that resulted in the loss of Pakistani military lives, Clinton said in a statement.We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military. We are committed to working closely with Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again.Pakistan confirmed it had decided to reopen the routes into Afghanistan, which are vital as the US and its NATO allies withdraw troops and equipment from Afghanistan ahead of a 2014 deadline.