WASHINGTON, Dec 12: US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates has said that the United States can act ‘unilaterally’ to strike at terrorists hiding inside Pakistan’s tribal areas, but has no plans to send troops inside the country.

Testifying before the influential House Armed Services Committee on ‘Stability and Security in Afghanistan,’ Mr Gates and Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen observed that the situation in Pakistan appears to have calmed, freeing troops to focus on fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists.

Responding to a question on relations between the US and Pakistani militaries, Admiral Mullen observed that the new army chief, Gen Kayani, was held in “very high regard” by US military officials who have worked with him. “We would not be looking at adding significant numbers of US forces to do conventional military operations on the Pakistani side of the border,” said Mr Gates while explaining the US strategy for dealing with the alleged Taliban and Al Qaeda hideouts inside Fata. Although he conceded that the United States needs to be concerned about ‘Al Qaeda training and reconstituting’ facilities in that area. Mr Gates said the US would first like to see “if we can get the Pakistanis to take it on.”

The second stage, he said, would be to work with the Pakistanis to improve their capabilities or do things together.

“And then we need to be able to act unilaterally if we have to, to make sure they don’t come back at us again,” he added.

Mr Gates described the situation along the Afghan border as “one that complicates our effort fairly significantly.”

When Congressman Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat, asked how the United States plans to catch senior Al Qaeda leaders allegedly hiding in the tribal area, Mr Gates said: “The issue is how do we work with the Pakistanis to make them more effective and what can we do together or perhaps independently, but that’s clearly not going to be major force movements across the border.”

“We clearly have,” said Admiral Mullen when Congressman John Spratt, a South Carolina Democrat, asked if the US has received $10 billion worth of services from Pakistan for the assistance Washington has given to Islamabad since 9/11.