Republican White House contender Mitt Romney has vowed to explore ways to "influence" Pakistan to advance US interests.
"I don't want to suggest that a country is like a child, but in the way that when you deal with another person we think of all these dimensions on which we try to influence them, we have to influence Pakistan," The News quoted Romney, as saying.
He added that he would "find how we can get those (Pakistani) institutions that are with us and will work towards modernity and peace and prosperity".
"In a place like Pakistan, you have the elected government, but then you also have the military-and the military in some respects has more power than the elected government," Romney added.
"You have to push and pull and find ways of influence and to change behavior. Each nation will typically act in their best interests. Sometimes we forget that, we think that every nation should act in our best interest," Romney said on being asked how he would tackle escalating tensions between Pakistan and the US.
"That's not the way they think. And so we have to understand what their concerns are and what their interests are," he added. (ANI)
