WASHINGTON, June 29: Pakistan and the United States have entered “a new phase” of their “long-term predictable relationship,” director, South Asia, US state department, Jerry Feirstein, said on Saturday.

Speaking at the annual get together and oath-taking ceremony of the Pakistani-American Congress as the chief guest, he said President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s visit had given a new longlasting dimension to the friendship. It had now spread to cooperation in trade and commerce, he said.

“President Musharraf’s visit marks the beginning of a new phase of US-Pakistan relations. Our commitment is to develop a warm long-term bilateral relationship between the two countries,” he said.

He said the success of the Operation Enduring Freedom was not possible had the US not received cooperation from Pakistan. He said the opportunity of cooperation was seized in the wake of the Sept 11 tragedy.

In the new phase, the official said, the long-term relationship the US wanted to build with Pakistan had got to be with the country and its people, not confined to a period or personalities.

He said that besides the $3 billion package announced by President George W. Bush, there would be an amount of $120 million for the education sector.

He said the trade and investment framework agreement signed during the visit could make advance towards a free trade agreement.

He said the USAID would give $2 million dollars for implementing the science and technology cooperation agreement, to be matched by a Pakistani contribution of $500,000.

He said the driving force of the new relationship was the shared perceptions and strategic interests of the two countries.

Mr Feirstein said the mistakes of the past should be avoided in the new phase of relationship.

He said the Pakistani community in the US was playing an appreciable role in the economic activity and it could help consolidate the bilateral relationship.

The war against terror had put Pakistan on the frontline, he said.

Senator Mohammad Azam Swati said the community must work for cultural assimilation and join political mainstream of the US to be able to stand up and be counted.

PAC President Mohammad Ashraf Abbasi and chief of the Pakistani-American Christian Association, Manny Alam, also spoke.—APP