The United States said on Monday it had suspended defence talks with anti-terror ally Pakistan and Defence Secretary Robert Gates demanded the country return swiftly to democracy after emergency rule. Eric Edelman, US under-secretary of defence for policy, had been due to lead a US delegation for two days of annual high-level defence talks with Pakistan beginning on Tuesday.
But the talks will not happen until political conditions improve, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said in Beijing where he was accompanying Gates. "These are important bilateral meetings that require an atmosphere in which all the issues can be discussed with the full attention of all participants," said Morrell.
"We hope to reschedule this meeting as soon as conditions are more conducive to achieve the important objectives at hand." "We urge President Musharraf to return his country to law-based, constitutional and democratic rule as soon as possible," Gates told reporters in Beijing.
Gates described Musharraf's actions as "disturbing," but also stressed that any US actions against Pakistan should have no impact on global efforts to fight terrorism. "We are reviewing all our assistance programmes (to Pakistan), although we are mindful not to do anything that would undermine counter-terrorism efforts," he said after a meeting with Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan.