WASHINGTON, Oct 2: The US State Department said on Tuesday that Pakistan’s future and its ties with the United States were at stake in the country’s presidential and general elections.

“We have a lot at stake; they have a lot at stake. The future course of Pakistan is at stake in this and future elections,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a briefing in Washington.

The unusually frank remarks followed a question on how the United States viewed the naming of a new general in Pakistan to replace Pervez Musharraf as the new army chief if he was elected as president.

The US official said that officials at the Pentagon who have had “some long-term interaction” with the general named to replace Mr Musharraf may have an opinion about him, but he does not. “I’m sure that he’s somebody that our military would be able to work closely with,” Mr McCormack said, adding that it’s for the Pakistani government and the people to decide “who fills what post … within the context of their laws and their constitution and their political system.”

The US official said that Pakistan is a good friend in the fight against terror and “we will work with whomever the Pakistani people choose to lead them.”

Mr McCormack said President Musharraf’s decision to doff his uniform and bring another general as army chief is linked to the larger question of political transition in Pakistan.