Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has underscored Islamabad wants to build a relationship with the United States which has the ownership of Pakistani people and that it works for both sides in a way that is respectful of Pakistani sovereignty.
"I don't think it's a matter of grievance as much as it is about a matter of building a type of partnership which is lasting, which has the ownership of the people of Pakistan, and of course the parliament of Pakistan," Khar told MSNBC channel in an interview.
The foreign minister remarks came as the Pakistani Parliament started examining recommendation on moving forward the Pakistan-US relationship, which the White House sees as critical to regional security. Khar argued that the partnership between the two countries should be able to "achieve results which are considered to be in the joint interest of both Pakistan and the United States and of course the Nato members, which are operating in Afghanistan."
Elaborating the Pakistani perspective, in the wake of incidents last year which damaged the bilateral ties, the foreign minister said the "Salala incident of November 26 in which Pakistan lost 27 of its soldiers to what is considered to be friendly fire, fire coming in from allies. A fire or a death toll, which is still in some ways, in many minds of Pakistanis, unaccounted for."
"So, I would like you to put yourself in those shoes for a moment and think that if 27 body bags were to return to the United States of America, and your public was told that they lost their lives because Pakistani troops fired on them, what would be the level of hostility in the United States of America? I'm quite sure very high," the foreign minister added. "So, this was really the brink of continuing with a relationship or a partnership which was increasingly being seen in Pakistan not to be working for Pakistan.
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