WASHINGTON, Aug 31: Two senior officials of the Bush administration - deputy defence secretary and chairman joint chiefs of staff - have once again reiterated America's desire to stay engaged with Pakistan and have regretted the downgrading of bilateral ties in the 1990s.

"It was a huge mistake," said Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, while talking about Washington's decision to freeze relations with Pakistan soon after the Russian withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Richard Myers said Pakistan was a frontline ally in the war against terror while emphasizing the need to maintain long-term ties with Pakistan.

The two officials were talking to Pakistani journalists at the farewell reception for Ambassador Jehangir Ashraf Qazi, who is now the UN Secretary General's special representative for Iraq.

Mr Wolfowitz agreed with the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission that the United States should maintain a long-term relationship with Pakistan and pointed out that the Bush administration already had taken steps to strengthen this relationship.

Blaming the Clinton administration for not realizing Pakistan's importance as a strategic partner, Mr Wolfowitz pointed out that before Sept 11, 2001, the US assistance to Pakistan - a country of 140 million people - was below $4 million a year. The Bush administration, he said, had requested more than $700 million for Pakistan this year.

"I am not saying money is the measure of everything, but it is a message, which is important," he added. The United States, he said, was also providing a "substantial amount of development assistance" for education and democracy programmes in Pakistan.

Mr Wolfowitz said even before 9/11, the United States was aware that "terrorism was a problem" but was trying to deal with it without engaging Pakistan. When the Bush administration assumed power, "one of the things that we quickly recognized is that you cannot have a policy towards Al Qaeda" without a policy towards Pakistan, he said.

"But that's what the last (US) administration was trying to do, and it was doing a huge mistake," he added. Mr Wolfowitz said that for half a century the United States focused on Southeast Asia, while South Asia had remained 'somewhat ignored'.

Even without the threat of terrorism, he said, South Asia was an important region for the United States and Washington should stay engaged with both India and Pakistan. Gen Myers, who also spoke to the journalists, said the United States and Pakistan were close allies in the ongoing war on terror.

He said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was an economic expert, and under his guidance the Pakistani economy had shown signs of recovery. Mr Wolfowitz, however, praised UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for picking a Pakistani as his special representative for Iraq.

"I am aware of the obvious dangers of the mission Mr Qazi is undertaking", but "the Pakistani people are tough, brave and sensible people" and Mr Annan has chosen "the right man for the job".