WASHINGTON, Oct 4: Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan has warned that any unilateral US military action in the tribal areas would have dangerous consequences both for Pakistan and the United States.

Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, he said that such an action would weaken the government in Islamabad and be unpopular with the Pakistani public.

“Our hand should be strengthened, not weakened,” he said.

His warning — delivered at a gathering of top US policymakers, diplomats and think-tank experts — follows a recent statement by former prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto that if elected she would allow US forces to operate in the tribal belt.

Her statement has started a debate in the US media, with some American experts reiterating the demand for allowing US soldiers to strike alleged Al Qaeda and Taliban targets inside Pakistan.

Secretary Khan reminded the Americans that Pakistan has already lost more than 1,000 soldiers while fighting the insurgents.

Pakistan, he said, was willing to increase its coordination with the United States for fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda militants hiding in the tribal belt but the US should not contemplate a unilateral military action.

Mr Khan rejected the suggestion that Pakistani soldiers did not have the will to tackle militants and said the response to the week-long siege by Islamists in July of the Red Mosque in Islamabad showed their determination.

“This shows that when the chips are down, the army is capable of acting,” he said. “But these things are not easy.”

Secretary Khan also dismissed the suggestion that the current political situation in Pakistan had caused “a pause” in the military operations against the insurgents. “There is no pause as the deployments are there — so I don’t think there is that kind of a pause in the policy,” he said.

Meanwhile, US Senators Joe Biden and Patrick Leahy, Democrats who chair key Senate committees on foreign policy and foreign aid, sent President Musharraf a letter last week warning him that future US aid to Pakistan will be influenced by its progress towards democratic, civilian-led rule.

Secretary Khan also disagreed with those who blame Pakistan for Afghanistan’s problems. “What is the problem in Afghanistan?” he asked.

“The basic problem in Afghanistan in my personal view … is that a national consensus which tenuously had existed for very long time under the monarchy broke down in 1978-79 — and has not been rebuilt.”