The United States Friday committed to “important” relationship with Pakistan as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar held talks on counterterrorism, economic cooperation and joint efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
The two countries are seeking to move past strains in the bilateral relationship and improve the wide-ranging ties by building upon convergences.
Pakistani foreign minister Khar urged the bilateral relationship to be based on mutual respect, trust and understanding while Ms Clinton emphasized the importance of continued counterterrorism cooperation.
“Our relationship goes far beyond our security concerns. Today, we will discuss the many other ways in which we work together, particularly the economic opportunity for Pakistanis, “ chief American diplomat Hillary Clinton said welcoming the Pakistani foreign for first her official visit to the State Department.
Ms Clinton reaffirmed Washington’s support for Pakistan in combating terrorism. “We have both pledged to support a secure, stable and prosperous Afghanistan, which is vital for security of the region,” Clinton said. Ms Khar said the Pakistan-US relationship has gone through some of the most difficult times recently.
“The last 18 months were difficult for many reasons. However the fact that the two countries braved these last 18 months together shows that we have both a deep understanding of the importance of this relationship for the bilateral relationship for the US and Pakistan and also the goals of regional peace and stability.”
The foreign minister noted that in a series of meeting two sides have done rather well towards building the trust.
“Today we stand at a time of opportunity to be able to cease the trust-deficit mantra and building on the trust by walking the talk that achieves interests that are common.” She said the relationship between the two countries should based on mutual respect and understanding and one that helps advance national goals of each country.
“We will be talking about building on an architecture of cooperation which will make these relations to be predictable and sustainable and most importantly to be viewed by both Pakistanis and the Americans to be pursuing their national interests, to be a relationship which is based on mutual respect and mutual understanding and which is seen to be pursuing national goals and objectives of each country.”
The US Secretary of State said “We also support Pakistan’s sovereignty but we are clear that all sovereign nations carry certain obligations to protect human rights of its citizens, to control their territory, to prevent threats to their neighbors and the international community. “
In her opening remarks, Foreign Minister Khar dismissed the impression that Pakistan was serving the US interest in the fight against terror. “In pursuing our counterterrorism goals, in pursuing a better future within the region and in pursuing a more stable and peaceful Afghanistan we are indeed pursuing our own national interest.
