Former US Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld has said that he preferred the Musharraf government in
Pakistan to the present Zardari-led government, which he said "is
weaker".
"I'm not impressed with their government. I preferred the Musharraf
government. This is a weaker government, in my view," Rumsfeld told Fox
News during an interview."People say there's corruption there [in Pakistan]. I'm sure there is. There is corruption in most of the governments of the world," he added.
Rumsfeld also said that the then Pakistan ruler Pervez Musharraf took a 'bold step' to cooperate with the United States post 9/11 in its war on terror.
"I think Musharraf, when he made the decision to cooperate with us, took a bold step. They tried to kill him several times. Did he have perfect control over his government? No," he said.
Rumsfeld also noted that Pakistan has been enormously helpful in some respects and not helpful in others, and opined that Washington should try to improve its ties with Islamabad, as it is a "useful relationship".
"We ought to keep working that relationship and try to improve it. The question isn't, are they good or bad? It is mixed. The question is what is the trajectory? Which way are they going? Are we improving our relationship in a way that it is more beneficial to the United States?" he questioned.
"We have political, economic and security interests and we need to balance them and recognize we have to deal with countries that are different than we are. They are not 100 per cent helping us. But nonetheless, on balance, it is a useful relationship," he added. (ANI)
