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Rediff.com  » News » Pakistan key, wants long-term ties: US

Pakistan key, wants long-term ties: US

Source: PTI
August 14, 2009 11:56 IST
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Observing that Pakistan is a "critical country" for the US in the long run, a top American General has said Washington wants to have a long-term partnership with Islamabad.

Chairman of the US Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said America's trust deficit with Pakistan is quite low and that the US is "digging itself out of a hole that it dug into."

America had abandoned Pakistan for 12 years from 1990 to 2002 "so the trust deficient is pretty significant", Mullen claimed.

"This is a country that is critical. I believe we have to have a long-term partnership with, and we're just starting that," he said.

The top American General said his frequent visits to Pakistan were aimed at building up relationship between the two countries, specially between the two armies.

He said the popularity of Pakistan military had jumped quite significantly recently after its crackdown on the militants.

"A year ago the popularity of the Pakistani military in terms of fighting the insurgents was in pretty low numbers, on the order of 10 to 15 to 20 percent. Now, it's routinely above 80 percent.

"That's a pretty dramatic turnaround and it has made its ability to fight much easier and much more acceptable to the Pakistani people," Mullen said.

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