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WASHINGTON: The United States believes Pakistan's cooperation remains vital to American national security even as it has issues at times with the key South Asian country, the White House said amid reports of improved counter-terror collaboration between the two sides.
“The cooperation we have with Pakistan is extremely important in terms of our national security objectives, in terms of protecting Americans, in terms of taking the fight to al-Qaeda, and that's why we continue to work with the Pakistanis and try to build on that cooperation,” Jay Carney, President Obama's spokesman said.
The White House press secretary was responding to a question at the daily briefing in the backdrop of the latest strains in US-Pakistan ties, appearing after Washington's assertions that Pakistani security organisations backed the Haqqani group's activities in Afghanistan.
Islamabad has strongly rejected any such assertions.
On Friday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in an interview that the intelligence and security organisations of the two countries were rebuilding their ties and revealed that Islamabad had captured five al-Qaeda suspects.
At the briefing, Carney noted the United States — which has relied on Pakistan for enforcing security along the porous Afghan border as well as for transporting Nato and US supplies to landlocked Afghanistan in the decade-old conflict — has an “important” relationship with Pakistan.
“We have had enormous successes through our cooperation with Pakistan,” the spokesman said, echoing President Obama's remarks at a press conference on Thursday that the US could not have succeeded in crushing al-Qaeda in Pakistan-Afghanistan border region without Islamabad's cooperation.
However, Carney's comments also acknowledged disagreements existing on some issues between the two anti-terror partners.
“We have also made clear that we have issues with Pakistan at times, and that it is a complicated relationship.
And I think the President addressed that very clearly and fully yesterday in his press conference.”
