WASHINGTON, April 14: The Pentagon has said that a ‘clear willingness’ to restore ties with Pakistan does not mean that the United States is willing to accept all their demands.

Earlier this week, the Pakistani parliament unanimously adopted 14 recommendations for rebuilding ties with the United States, demanding immediate halt to drone strikes and an unconditional US apology over a Nato air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

At a briefing at the Pentagon, Department of Defence spokesman George Little acknowledged that America’s relationship with Pakistan went through a difficult phase last year.

“We want to settle down these issues and move forward with Pakistan on areas of our shared interests,” he said.

Mr Little said the US was looking forward to receiving the official version of these recommendations.

Asked if the US was willing to apologise over the Nov 26 air raid at Salala checkpost, the Pentagon spokesman said: “It is hard to speculate what our position will be on each of these recommendations from the Pakistani parliament.”

But there’s “a clear willingness on part of the US administration to engage with Pakistan because we value this relationship”, he said.

When a journalist asked if this willingness meant that the US was ready to accept some of the demands, the Pentagon spokesperson said: “I will not characterise that our willingness to discuss means that we are ready to accept all Pakistani demands.”