WASHINGTON: US defence and military chiefs have said that while they will continue to use other communication options and routes to Afghanistan, Pakistan needs to reopen the Torkham gate as soon as possible.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted that keeping the ground communication lines through Pakistan open was particularly important now as the United States planned to withdraw most of its combat troops and equipment from Afghanistan in 2014.

“Logistics is about options, and it always is. And we have options to the north,” Secretary Hagel said. “And we have another route to the south. We do use air now.”

But he also acknowledged that the air option was “a lot more expensive” and noted that the United States was “still moving on a couple of other ground lines”.

Gen Dempsey also emphasised the need to keep other options open. “It is about options. We have the finest logistics architecture and enterprise in the world,” he said.

The two military leaders, however, reminded Pakistan of the need to reopen the Torkham gate. “We’re continuing to focus on this and get it back open,” Mr Hagel said. Gen Dempsey said the US military was working with the Pakistani military to resolve this issue. “We’re engaged with our Pakistani partners, but it won’t affect the way we operate, or the way we retrograde,” he added.

The two US defence leaders also said that despite a planned withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan next year, the US was still at war there and that it would continue to focus on that country.

Both recently returned from visiting US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, while Secretary Hagel also visited Pakistan and met civilian and military leaders of the country.

Mr Hagel said that continuing challenges with the ground lines of communication in Pakistan was “one example of the need to gain certainty now regarding our post-2014 presence”.

He noted that General Joseph Dunford, the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, visited Islamabad earlier this week and discussed the issue with senior Pakistan leaders, including its new army chief.

The secretary said he too had met the Pakistani military chief while Gen Dempsey talked to him on the phone. “I also brought this issue up with the prime minister of Pakistan,” he added. “Gen Dunford brought it up again and is working with the Pakistan forces to assure that we get that Torkham gate back open.”

Secretary Hagel said that he had a long closed-circuit video conference with Gen Dunford on this issue after his visit to Islamabad.