Washington: Denying that the relationship between the US and
Pakistan has deteriorated, Islamabad’s top envoy in Washington has said
that both the countries need each other and share multidimensional
ties.
According to PTI, "Not at all," Pakistan’s Ambassador to
US Husain Haqqani said when asked if the relationship between US and
Islamabad has deteriorated."Pakistan and the United States have a
complex, multidimensional relationship. Both countries need each other.
Occasionally there are differences between the best of allies," he said
during an interview with National Public Radio (NPR).
"We’ve
seen that through history: France and the United States had problems;
Britain and the United States did not always agree on the conduct of
the Second World War," he argued."I think what we see is basically a
difficult, complex relationship playing out in an age of media glare.
But what comes in the media glare is not always what happens in private
between us as allies," he added.
Responding to questions about
US withholding military aid to Pakistan, Haqqani said "what has been
withheld or delayed is coalition support payments and is not aid.""They
are reimbursement for Pakistan’s expenditure in the course of action
against terrorists.
And these payments have not actually come
through since December 2010," he said.The United States has been
relatively slow in reimbursing Pakistan. We will take it up with them,
have taken it up with them, and we hope that it will clear up over
time, said the Pakistan’s Ambassador."Pakistan and the United States
have been allies for a long time. Where we have always disagreed is
that the American timelines for specific actions are not necessarily
the same as Pakistani timelines," he said.
"We have to take
into account a lot of ground realities. We have to take into account
how our public feels," he said.The fundamental fact is that the will
and the intention to eliminate terrorism from Pakistan is shared both
by Islamabad and Washington, he said."Terrorists are as much Pakistan’s
enemies as they are of the US," Haqqani said. Online
