Ice seems to have started melting between the United States and Pakistan, with positive signals coming from both sides suggesting that their relations would be back to normal soon.
The relations between the US and Pakistan have been strained since the May 2 attack on Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad and they worsened further with the NATO-ISAF attack on two Pakistani border posts in which 25 troops were killed.
After the November 26 attack, Pakistan had blocked all NATO supplies to Afghanistan with the army and the government taking a tough position on this violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. The army concluded its investigation by squarely saying that it was a deliberate and intended attack. The government also took the same position.
However, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, in his interview to BBC, did not say for sure that it was an intended attack. “Apparently so,” he said in response to a question about whether he believed that the attacks were deliberate and pre-planned. This suggested that the situation would soon become normal. US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter, in a TV programme on Monday, expressed sorrow at the “terrible tragedy” of Mohmand Agency and termed it an “unintentional” act and a result of “failure of mechanism”.
Speaking in the Geo News programme Capital Talk, he said: “We feel as Pakistani people do on this terrible tragedy. It should not have happened. We have pledged a full enquiry into the incident and we should learn from this so that it should never happen again.”
When asked to comment on possible closure of Pakistani airspace to US planes, Munter said: “Let’s not forget that Pakistan and the US are on the same side and that there should be more talk between the two allies rather than less. Let’s get beyond the anger.” To a question on whether the US was trying to pressure Pakistan to restore NATO supply lines, the US ambassador said his government was in constant contact with Pakistan over the issue.
