CHICAGO: President Asif Ali Zardari's spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the perception that President Zardari had arrived in Chicago to announce the resumption of Nato supplies was proved wrong, DawnNews reported.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Sherry Rehman, Babar said that the president had clarified that the parliament's decision was binding on him.

Separately, President Barack Obama told reporters Monday the United States and Pakistan were making “diligent progress” on an accord, after he briefly met President Zardari on summit sidelines.

During the press briefing, Ambassador Rehman said that Pakistan still stood by its demand for an apology over the Salala check post incident of last November and that national interest could not be traded for goodwill gestures. Pakistan closed supply routes to Afghanistan after a US attack on the Pakistani side of the border killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November. The two countries were engaged in talks to resolve the issue.

Rehman said participation in the Nato summit helped Pakistan in better explaining its point of view.

Moreover, she said Obama had admitted that tensions between the countries had risen over the past 10 years.