WASHINGTON, Dec 13: The United States cannot win the war in Afghanistan without repairing its relations with Pakistan, says US Defence Secretary Leon E. Panetta, while expressing confidence that the two allies can patch up their differences.

Mr Panetta, considered a ‘Pakistan hawk’ in the US capital, also noted that the South Asian region cannot be stable if Pakistan was not stable.

The remarks he made to reporters before flying over to Kabul for meetings with Afghan leaders, showed a softening of his attitude towards Pakistan as until recently he was very critical of Islamabad’s approach to the Afghan war.

“Ultimately, we can’t win the war in Afghanistan without being able to win in our relationship with Pakistan as well,” he said.

A Pentagon news release, quoted the defence secretary as saying that restoring America’s strained relations with Pakistan was critical to long-term progress in Afghanistan.

“I think it is going to be important, as we are able to move and progress in our efforts in Afghanistan, that we continue to do outreach in Pakistan,” he said.

“It is essential to stability in that region that we not only achieve a peaceful resolution with regards to Afghanistan, but that we are able to develop a more stable relationship with Pakistan as well,” he said.

“If that region is ever going to find peace, it is going to happen not only by achieving stability in Afghanistan, but also by achieving some degree of stability in Pakistan as well.”

Responding to a question on Pakistan’s decision to block Nato supply routes to Afghanistan, Mr Panetta said: “We feel pretty confident that our troops have the supplies they need to continue their operations in Afghanistan. And our command structure has done an incredible job ensuring that one way or another we are able to get those supplies in.”

But this did not mean he was not worried about the closure, he added.

“We are concerned about the closure of the routes through Pakistan,” he said, adding that he hoped the situation wouldn’t be permanent.

”We continue to work with them to see if we can get those reopened as soon as possible. I am confident that that will happen. I can’t tell you when, but I remain confident that at some point we’re going to be able to restore our normal supply routes.”

According to the American Forces Press Service, Mr Panetta conceded that the US relationship with Pakistan had been “difficult and complicated, but it is an important relationship, and it is one we have to continue to work at.” Mr Panetta acknowledged that Pakistan has provided important cooperation to the United States in the war against terrorists.

“At the same time, we have had some serious difficulties with regards to some of the operations that involve groups in Fata and groups along the border,” he said.

Responding to another question on a US military probe into the Nov 26 Nato raid that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, Mr Panetta said that a number of interviews had been conducted, to determine factors involved in the incident. He expressed hope that the investigation would shed light on “exactly what happened,” but said he had not yet received an update on any findings.

Mr Panetta noted that even before the Nov 26 incident, Gen John Allen, commander of US and Isaf forces in Afghanistan, reached out to Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to develop a relationship that would allow the United States and Pakistan to better coordinate and control border area operations to prevent incidents.

“Obviously what took place has complicated that relationship,” Mr Panetta said.

“But I think the effort now is to try to see if we can restore that kind of communication with regards to those border incidents.”

Restoring a solid relationship with Pakistan, he noted, went well beyond supply routes and border operations.

And if there’s one thing he said he’s learned, both at CIA and at the Defence Department, it’s the need to continue working at the relationship, even through “bumps in the road” and crises, he said.

Mr Panetta emphasised that the mission of confronting terrorism served both the United States’ and Pakistan’s interests. “The terrorism that threatens us also threatens them,” he said.

“And if we can recognise that, despite our differences, there are some common areas that we share in terms of our security, then I think we can ultimately find a way to resolve our differences and improve our relationship,” he said.