US looking to put challenges in relations with Pakistan behind

Pakistan

US looking to put challenges in relations with Pakistan behind

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The United States wants to put the relationship with Pakistan back on track.

23 February,2012 05:21 am

The deputy spokesperson of the US State Department, Mark Toner has said that the goal of the administration was to put this relationship back on track, you know, to try to put some of the problems that we have had in the relationship (with Pakistan).Answering a question during a briefing Wednesday on the impending meeting between Secretary Clinton and Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in London on the sidelines of Somalia conference, he agreed that there were issues in the relationship that needed to be discussed.Obviously weve got a lot of things to discuss with our Pakistani friends, he said while referring to the meeting in London. We want to put some of the challenges behind us and move productively forward, he asserted.On another question on President Karzais meetings with some Taliban sympathizer clerics in Pakistan, he declined having any specific information about those meetings. Speaking more broadly about reconciliation efforts, he said we want to see Afghan-to-Afghan talks go forward. And so, in that regard, were supportive of President Karzais efforts.He also rejected the impression that President Karzai had invited Taliban for direct talks because of his earlier displeasure on being bypassed by the U.S. in these talks. Numerous visits and meetings between Marc Grossman and President Karzai are a strong indication that weve been consulting with his government throughout this process. You know, we want to at some point step away from this and have it be an Afghan-to-Afghan reconciliation process, he maintained.When probed about Secretary Clintons visit to Pakistan last year, in which she made a statement that Pakistan should take action against militant outfits, and whether President Karzai talking to those groups, trying to bring them on board, could result in a compromise on the sort of action US required from Pakistan, Mark again was in disagreement.Weve been very clear about our red lines and, indeed, the Afghans governments red lines for those Taliban who would participate in any reconciliation process. And so the groups that were talking about, that the Secretary raised her concerns about operating in Pakistan, are very clearly not part of this process and not interested. Theyre carrying out violent attacks against Afghans and also international entities in Afghanistan, he clarified.- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC