Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday said that United States has "tried to be very considerate of political needs of the Pakistani leadership."
"We have been forthcoming with financial assistance, with debt relief and normalising our relationship in a way that had not been the case prior to 9/11."
Powell said this in an interview in Islamabad with Aaron Brown telecast in the CNN's News Night.
Powell described President General Pervez Musharraf as "a good friend of the United States."
In response to a question, he said, "We are sensitive to his political situation and you are quite right that he has been a good friend of the United States. He has been a good friend as we participate in the war against terrorists, and he has a terrorist threat here in Pakistan.
"We had a terrorist threat in Afghanistan. And after 9/11, he elected to move away from the Taleban and join with the civilised world in going after the terrorists.
And he did it against forces within his society that was not really supportive of that kind of action, so we have tried to be very considerate of political needs of the Pakistani leadership. We have been forthcoming with financial assistance, with debt relief and normalising our relationship in a way that had not been the case prior to 9/11."
On Pakistan-India relations, he said the United States was "pleased with the comprehensive dialogue that has been decided upon between Pakistan and India," and of the dialogue process, he said: "it's off to a good start." Describing it as "a historic opportunity," Powell said President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee "deserve great credit for taking this important historic step forward."
The United States, he stated, would support them "in way that we can," adding: "but this is a work they have to do with each other."
Of the recent swoop against foreign elements in tribal areas along Pak-Afghan border, Powell said the United States would like Pakistan to "continue to root out the al Qaeda and Taleban elements that are along the border in the tribal areas and they're working on that."
In fact, he said "they had a significant action recently and there was some loss of life on the side of the Pakistanis and my heart goes out to their families. But these young men were fighting terrorists who were essentially a hostile presence in this country."
To another question, Secretary Powell said Pakistan is an Islamic state and Islam is a religion that is followed by the citizens of Pakistan.
About extremist interpretation of Islam, he said: "But when Islam becomes fundamentalism to the point that one believes it is acceptable to take the life of innocent people or to participate in terrorist actions, this is not just a deviant interpretation of Islam, it goes against the basic tenets of Islam."
Of the domestic political pressures, Secretary Powell said as time passes, the people of Pakistan "will understand he's (President Musharraf) moving in the right direction."
"So I hope that over time, as he goes after terrorists, it might be here in Pakistan or as he joins us in the war on terrorism around the world, in other parts of the world, the Pakistani people will understand he's moving in the right direction.
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