The US-Pakistani relationship remains challenging for both despite the reopening of land routes to re-supply US troops in Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday. The supply route deal removed one headache, but ties are likely to remain strained by other differences.
These include Pakistan's opposition to US drone strikes on its territory and Washington's allegations that Islamabad condones, or even assists, anti-American militants.
Speaking after she met Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Clinton said both were encouraged they had "put the recent difficulties behind us" but she acknowledged the difficulties in the relationship in blunt terms.
"I have said many times that this is a challenging but essential relationship. It remains so. And I have no reason to believe it will not continue to raise hard questions for us both," Clinton told a news conference in Tokyo, where both officials attended an Afghan donors' conference.
"But it is something that I think is in the interests of the United States as well as in the interests of Pakistan."
Clinton said that the top issue she discussed with Khar was "the necessity of defeating the terror networks that threaten the stability of both Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as interests of the United States" and its allies.
The United States has pressed Pakistan to pursue the Taliban and its allies, especially the Haqqani network, which it blames for a series of attacks on US targets in Afghanistan.
PRESSURE HAQQANI
During their one-hour meeting, Clinton urged Khar to put pressure on the Haqqani network, said a senior US official, who acknowledged that it was unclear whether Pakistan would step up its counter-terrorism efforts.
"In terms of counterterrorism, my answer is we'll see," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
"In many ways, the fact that the (land routes) were closed was getting in the way of a lot of conversation with Pakistan. Now that (they) are open, we have an opportunity, it seems to me, to go back into business with them and counter-terrorism is one of those areas. So, we'll see," he added.
After their bilateral talks, Clinton and Khar both met Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasul, smiling and laughing as they staged a three-way handshake for photographers.
The three issued a statement that emphasised their desire for militants to lay down their arms and enter reconciliation talks with the Afghan government. Washington wants Islamabad to bring the Haqqani network into talks, but is wary of exerting too much pressure on Pakistan and further straining ties.
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