Pleased at the reopening of Pakistani border for NATO supplies, the United States on Thursday renewed its resolve to forge a wide-ranging relationship with Islamabad. As first NATO trucks rumbled into Afghanistan after a seven-month hiatus caused by last year’s Salala airstrikes on Pakistani border posts – the State Department said “going forward, the US looks to cooperative work with Pakistan on a range of regional and bilateral issues”. A spokesman told reporters at the daily briefing that the resumption of the border crossings – following US expression of apology over Pakistani deaths in Salala tragedy – represented a “tangible” expression of its commitment in support of US peace efforts in neighbouring Afghanistan. Patrick Ventrell, director of Press Relations said Washington looked forward to working with Pakistan on regional security efforts including peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
