WASHINGTON, July 5: America's partnership with Pakistan continues to be critical, both for the campaign against terrorism and for bringing greater stability to Afghanistan, says Congressman James Leach, chairman, of the US House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

"Following two attempts on the life of President Pervez Musharraf, welcome signs have emerged that Islamabad has rededicated itself to uprooting the international as well as domestic terrorist groups that have taken refuge on Pakistani soil," says the US lawmaker.

Disagrees Eni Faleomavaega, a member of Congress from American Samoa. "I do not believe we will see an end to terrorism or nuclear proliferation until the US Congress imposes restrictions on US aid to Pakistan," he says.

"No man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it. And such is the case, I believe (with) US-Pakistan relations," he adds. These contradictory views were expressed at a recent Congressional hearing on Washington's policy towards South Asia, where India and Pakistan are making a historical attempt to improve their relations.

But this new found camaraderie between South Asia's two traditional rivals has not yet reached the US Congress, at least not those who are associated with the pro-Indian lobby. Throughout the hearing, they continued to attack Pakistan as a country that sponsors terrorism, is proliferating nuclear weapons and cannot be trusted as a US ally.

At times their criticism became so intolerably biased that other lawmakers not necessarily sympathetic to Pakistan had to come to Pakistan's rescue. One such lawmaker is Mr Leach, a Republican from Iowa, who reminded the pro-Indian lobby that India and Pakistan were indeed making an effort to improve their ties, which "provides a credible prospect for strengthening mutual security on the subcontinent."