Pakistan and U.S relationship should be based on realistic expectations says Sherry Rehman

Pakistan wants its relationship with the United States to be based on realistic expectations, mutual respect for sovereignty and appreciation of each other’s legitimate security interests, Islamabad’s envoy in Washington said.
Ambassador Sherry Rehman said Pakistan wants the important relationship to be mutually cooperative.

She was addressing a reception held in honour of a visiting delegation of National Defense University of Pakistan. The event at the Pakistani embassy was attended by senior State Department and Pentagon officials.

“We want this relationship to be grounded in realistic expectations, respect for each other’s sovereignty, appreciation of each other’s legitimate security interests and understanding of each other’s redlines. Similarly, both sides
need to be aware of each other’s limitations and constraints,” the ambassador said of the ties, strained by a series of incidents last year.

Her remarks came as Islamabad and Washington looked at ways to reset relations in the light of Pakistani parliamentary recommendations, a result of the November 26, 2011 Nato strikes on Salala check posts, which killed 24 Pakistani
soldiers and plunged the bilateral relationship to the lowest point in the last decade. Pakistan and the United States are engaged in the challenging choreography of reconfiguring the bilateral relationship to make it “more transparent and sustainable,” the
ambassador noted.

Pakistan’s Parliament has made history by taking charge of spelling out Pakistan’s “concerns, priorities and redlines,” she said. “We hope to use this framework as the foundation for a healthier, more sustainable and mutually cooperative
relationship with the United States.” Islamabad, she said, considers the Pakistan-US relationship as one of the most important in the world and desires to strengthen it.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=19473

Posted by Hamza Jahangir on Apr 18 2012. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry