US will help Pak defend its democracy: Hillary

US will step up its support to Pakistan to "defend" its democracy from violent extremism, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

Paris: US will step up its support to
Pakistan to "defend" its democracy from violent extremism,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday, expressing
concern over a spate of terror attacks on the country`s
military facilities, mosques and schools.

Committing to pursue a "comprehensive, long-term
partnership" with Pakistan, despite its failure to adopt a
hard strategy to tackle militant extremism, Clinton said,
Washington will support the country to "defend" its "democracy
from violent extremism."

Pakistan has lost thousands of civilians and military
personnel, she said, expressing concern over the ruthless
attack launched by terrorists on country`s military
facilities, mosques, and schools.

In the face of raging anti-American sentiment in
Pakistan since the killing of the Osama bin Laden by the US
paratroopers, Islamabad has adopted tough and indifferent
postures towards Washington, raising doubts over its strategic
partnership with it.

"Since 9/11, Pakistan has been (a) strong partner in
our counter-terrorism efforts and there have been times we
have had disagreements and there have been times when we
wanted to push harder and for various reasons, they have not,"
she told reporters at the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development`s (OECD) concluding press
conference here.

Pakistan leveled a barrage of charges against the US
for violating its its sovereignty by carrying out a covert
action on its territory in the Osama episode.

PTI

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