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WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described relations between the United States and Pakistan on Sunday as “very challenging,” a tacit admission of strained ties between the key allies.
Speaking after Pakistan boycotted a trilateral meeting on Afghanistan in Brussels in protest at a drone attack that killed over 40 people, Clinton said Islamabad was caught between wanting to help and dealing with its own extremist threat.
“It's a very challenging relationship, because there have been some — some problems,” she said in an interview with the ABC program “This Week.”
“It's a very difficult relationship, because Pakistan is in a hard position, trying to figure out how it's going to contend with its own internal extremist threat,” she said.
“But I think, on the other hand, we've also developed good lines of communication, good opportunities for cooperation, but it's something we have to work on every day.”
Clinton noted the cooperation of the Pakistani government in securing the release of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor accused in a double murder, as well as in the fight against al Qaeda.
“We were very appreciative of getting our diplomat out of Pakistan, and that took cooperation by the government of Pakistan,” she said. “We have cooperated very closely together in going after terrorists who pose a threat to both us and to the Pakistanis themselves.”
Washington always insisted that Davis had diplomatic immunity from prosecution. He was released earlier this month after a payment of $2 million, but Clinton has denied the United States paid any compensation.
Intelligence sources in the northwestern city of Peshawar said 12 Pakistani Taliban militants were among those killed in the March 17 drone strike on a militant hideout in the North Waziristan tribal region.
But the US ambassador was called in to meet with foreign secretary Salman Bashir who conveyed “a strong protest” over the attack and demanded an apology and explanation from the United States.
“It was evident that the fundamentals of our relations need to be revisited. Pakistan should not be taken for granted nor treated as a client state,” a foreign ministry statement said.
“It was for the White House and the State Department to hold back those who have been trying to veer Pakistan-US relationship away from the track,” the statement added.
