Pakistan and Nato are working through their disagreement after an airstrike killed Pakistani soldiers and a vital supplies route for Afghanistan-based international forces - temporarily shut in the wake of cross-border intrusion - will be reopened as soon as safety is ensured for truck convoys passing through Khyber Pass, Islamabad's envoy to the United States said.
"We are working through our disagreement. Nato and ISAF have agreed to conduct an inquiry about the incident. And I think, as soon as we can ensure the security of the convoys moving through the Khyber Pass, we will have them moving again," Ambassador Husain Haqqani said.
He told CNN's Situation Room that as a result of the airstrike, the Pakistani public opinion became infuriated. "Pakistan and the United States are allies, but we have a lot of difficulties managing opinion in both countries about the other. So, in a situation like that, if the supplies were continuing, there would have been a possibility that there may have been a security situation that we had to deal with," he stated in reply to a question by Wolf Blitzer. The ambassador said there are several routes through which ISAF and US troops get 70 percent of their supplies via Pakistan.
Pakistan, he stressed, is a "sovereign nation, very cognisant of her sovereignty, and we are a proud people." "And you must remember that approval for the United States' policies in Pakistan is at an all-time low. It's at 11 percent. "In a situation like this, when the government is an ally of the United States, it has to be very mindful of how people respond to the United States. And when there is an air strike, which kills Pakistani troops, not insurgents, then there is obviously some public payback that has to happen," he said.
The diplomat said the two sides are conducting an inquiry into the incident but cautioned "at the same time, I don't think anybody should overreact. Pakistan and the United States remain allies, and we are allies with some disagreements." Ambassador Haqqani brushed aside media speculations that Pakistan might experience another military coup.
"Not at all. There have been four coups in Pakistan in 60 years, and everybody has learned the lesson. In fact, today the last person who took part in a coup, General Musharraf, has announced the formation of a political party and announced that he will come back and contest elections shows that now there is consensus in Pakistan, including within the Pakistani military to make democracy work."
"Look, the United States worked through many issues, issues between the judiciary and the executive, et cetera, through your history, just as John Marshall didn't like the face of President Jefferson. You have these issues, but the only way forward is to work them through within the constitution, and the democratic process, and our military supports that."
The ambassador was confident that Pakistan, with help from its friends, can deal with a spate of challenges confronting it. "Be concerned, but stop worrying. Trust that the Pakistani leadership understands the challenges. Help Pakistan go through the challenges instead of worrying so much about the challenges that you stop helping us," he said.