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US ties with Pakistan 'difficult': Panetta
WASHINGTON: Leon Panetta, who is poised to become secretary of defense has called the US relationship with Pakistan "difficult" but "critical", Geo News reported.He spent the day in his confirmation hearing before the US Senate Armed Services Committee, first in a public session and then in an afternoon closed-door session to allow discussion of national security secrets.
Panetta called the US relationship with Pakistan "difficult" but "critical." While Pakistan has proven to be a safe haven for extremists, a positive relationship with authorities in Islamabad is vital to the mission in Afghanistan, he warned.
Close ties with Pakistan are also critical due to the necessity of securing that country's nuclear arsenal, he noted.
When the question of a timetable for Afghanistan withdrawal was posed by the senators, Panetta declined to be specific.
He asserted that the United States and its allies have made "great progress" in the nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan, but warned that recent gains are "fragile and reversible."
But he also warned that global terrorist networks remain "dangerous enemies spread out across the world."
Courtesy www.geo.tv