Pentagon looking to work with new ISI chief

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The US is looking forward to work with the new head of Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan, Pentagon said, noting the US-Pak relationship is critical for the region and Afghanistan.
“We look forward to working with the new chief,” the Pentagon spokesman, Navy Captain John Kirby, said Tuesday, when asked about announcement of the new ISI Chief.
On March 18, Lieutenant Gen Zaheer ul-Islam would replace Lieutenant Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha as the new ISI chief. Under Pasha, Americas relationship with Pak’s top spy agency had hit a new low.
“We look forward to having a good partnership with Pakistan moving forward. That’s what our focus is on. We believe it is critical for the region and for the mission in Afghanistan,” Kirby said. However, he said that the US has nothing to say on the appointment and the decision.
“This is the decision that the civilian leadership of the nation of Pakistan get to make. It is not for us to make the comment one way or the other their appointments to high office,” said the Pentagon spokesman.
On the relationship with Pakistan generally, he reiterated the commitment of Pentagon to work on resolving bitter issues. “We look forward to having a good partnership with Pakistan moving forward. That’s what our focus is on. We believe it is critical for the region and for the mission in Afghanistan,” the spokesperson stressed.
The military-military cooperation particularly took a nosedive after the Nato attack on November 26 at Salala check-post in Mohmand that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan has blocked NATO supply routes in protest and also got the Shamsi airbase vacated while the parliament is in the process of reviewing in bilateral relationship in its entirety.