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US denies `marriage of convenience` with Pakistan
Islamabad, Mar 17: The US-Pakistani alliance is a long-term partnership, not a marriage of convenience, and is part of a network of protecting the world from ``terrorism``, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said today.
Islamabad, Mar 17: The US-Pakistani alliance is a long-term partnership, not a marriage of convenience, and is part of a network of protecting the world from ''terrorism'', US Secretary of State Colin Powell said today.
Powell is visiting Pakistan this week partly to seek more help from Musharraf as the US military has launched operation ''mountain storm'' in southern and eastern Afghanistan to try to crush Taliban?
and al Qaeda militants and catch bin Laden. In a piece published in Pakistani newspapers, he sought to reassure Pakistanis about the united states' past involvement in the region.
''Some view the US-Pakistan relationship as a temporary marriage of convenience. But they underestimate the strength of our mutual commitment and they lack the vision to recognise the promise of our partnership,'' Powell wrote in a newspaper, and the English-language newspaper.
''As I arrive in Pakistan, the message I bring on behalf of President George W Bush and the American people is that the US partnership with Pakistan is not just for today and tomorrow. Our partnership is for the long term,'' he said.
Many Pakistanis believe the United States abandoned Islamabad after the end of the decade-long soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1989.
Powell is also expected to privately seek maximum information on the activities of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist who has admitted selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea but was pardoned by Musharraf.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has strongly supported Washington's ''war on terrorism'', providing vital assistance for the US-led operation that toppled the Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan. The Taliban harbored Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
''the US-Pakistan alliance remains crucial to protecting both our countries, and the world, from terrorism,'' powell wrote. ''our joint efforts have put al Qaeda on the defensive, and we will take the fight to them until bin laden and his supporters have been brought to justice and their networks destroyed".
Bureau Report
''Some view the US-Pakistan relationship as a temporary marriage of convenience. But they underestimate the strength of our mutual commitment and they lack the vision to recognise the promise of our partnership,'' Powell wrote in a newspaper, and the English-language newspaper.
''As I arrive in Pakistan, the message I bring on behalf of President George W Bush and the American people is that the US partnership with Pakistan is not just for today and tomorrow. Our partnership is for the long term,'' he said.
Many Pakistanis believe the United States abandoned Islamabad after the end of the decade-long soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1989.
Powell is also expected to privately seek maximum information on the activities of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist who has admitted selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea but was pardoned by Musharraf.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has strongly supported Washington's ''war on terrorism'', providing vital assistance for the US-led operation that toppled the Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan. The Taliban harbored Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
''the US-Pakistan alliance remains crucial to protecting both our countries, and the world, from terrorism,'' powell wrote. ''our joint efforts have put al Qaeda on the defensive, and we will take the fight to them until bin laden and his supporters have been brought to justice and their networks destroyed".
Bureau Report