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Saturday, September 10, 2011
Pakistan vital to stabilise South Asian region: Panetta* Says US should recognise Pakistan as extremely important country
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: The United States believes Pakistan is vital to stabilising the South Asian region and continues to work with Islamabad, despite differences on issues related to counterterrorism, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has said.
He also applauded Pakistan’s effort in the anti-terror war over the years, including the latest capture of al Qaeda operative Younis al-Mauritani. “The Pakistanis caught him, working with us,” Panetta said in an interview With Charlie Rose, anchor of the PBS news programme named after him.
“So they have in fact worked with us in a number of ways to go after those kinds of targets, and they’ve indicated a willingness to do that,” the defence secretary said.
“At the same time, you know, I think we have to recognise that Pakistan is a critical country in that region of the world, not only in terms of trying to give us some cooperation in the war that we are conducting there, but also because they are a nuclear power, also because they themselves are in the effort to try to confront terrorism there, but also because they can be extremely important to us in the effort to provide stability in Afghanistan and other areas,” he said.
“They have to be a - they have to play a role in that. So for that reason, you know, while we don’t agree on everything they do obviously, and while we have controversies and we have differences in a number of areas, we’ve got to do everything possible to work with them to try to make them a partner.” app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk