The
United States has a complicated relationship with Pakistan and ties
have been further soured by a dispute over unmanned military aircraft
the United States uses to target militants in Pakistan's tribal areas on
the Afghan border.
Islamabad
says drone strikes kill too many civilians and violate its sovereignty.
Protests by anti-drone activists prompted the United States to suspend
ground shipments of NATO cargo leaving Afghanistan via Pakistan last
week.
During
his visit, Hagel met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other senior
officials including the newly appointed army chief, Raheel Sharif. Both
sides were tight-lipped on the details of the talks.
"The
prime minister conveyed Pakistan's deep concern over continuing U.S.
drone strikes, stressing that drone strikes were counter-productive to
our efforts to combat terrorism and extremism on an enduring basis," the
foreign ministry said in a statement.
A
senior U.S. defence official said Hagel hoped to work with Pakistan to
deepen the security partnership and reassure it of continued U.S.
assistance in building its military capacity.
The
official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States
believed peace and stability in the region would be enhanced by improved
Afghan-Pakistan relations "because of the unique nature of its porous
border and the presence of a variety of militant groups in the AfPak
border region".
Pakistan
is one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign assistance and has
received more than $16 billion in security aid since 2002, a defence
official said. The Obama administration has sought $305 million in
military aid for 2014 and $858 million in a range of civilian assistance
for Pakistan.
Before
his arrival in Pakistan, Hagel visited troops in Afghanistan and met
senior Afghan officials. He said a NATO meeting in February could serve
as a new deadline for approval of a security pact between Kabul and
Washington an accord Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been reluctant to
sign.
Hagel
is the first defence minister to visit Pakistan since the U.S. raid in
the city of Abbottabad that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in
2011. Pakistan was embarrassed and angered by the surprise raid.
At
the same time, Pakistan has served as a supply route for equipment
flowing into Afghanistan to support the international coalition that is
fighting Taliban militants.
The
routes, known as the Pakistani Ground Lines of Communication (GLOC),
are important for withdrawing U.S. and coalition equipment as they draw
down foreign forces in Afghanistan and hand over security control to
Afghan forces.
Prior
to the talks, the defence official said Hagel would "express
appreciation that the government of Pakistan has made it a priority to
keep the GLOCs open".
He
praised operations by Pakistani forces in a dangerous region this year
to break up militants who posed a threat to the Torkham-Peshawar road
that serves as part of the route between Afghanistan and the Pakistani
port city of Karachi.
"That's
an example of the kind of effort that the Pakistan government as a
whole has taken to ensure that the GLOCs stay open," the official said.
Post a Comment