ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani premier has said that his government would make all crucial decisions, including one of a possible resumption of Nato supplies, keeping the "nation’s strategic interests" into account.

Addressing a session of the federal cabinet in Islamabad on Wednesday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that the country’s tense relationship with the United States and Nato was currently going through a critical juncture.

However, the government would neither bargain on its principled stance nor would it take any hasty, undesired steps based solely on emotion, said Gilani.

Pakistan last year had closed ground supply routes to coalition forces in Afghanistan after a US air raid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at the Salala checkpost on Nov 26, when ties between the two allies hit their lowest.

The prime minister’s words come after a meeting of the Cabinet’s Defence Committee (DCC) on Tuesday, which not only gave a nod to the conclusion of an agreement for reopening supply routes after a deadlock of almost six months, but also cleared the way for President Asif Ali Zardari to attend the upcoming Nato summit in Chicago.

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen telephoned President Zardari on Tuesday, inviting him for the Nato summit in Chicago. The conference, scheduled to be held on May 20-21, is considered to be a crucial summit for the future of Afghanistan after coalition forces pull out of the war-torn nation by 2014.

Upcoming budget

Apart from Pak-US ties, the upcoming budget also made an appearance during the PM’s Wednesday address to the federal cabinet.

The prime minister said that providing relief to the common man would be the government’s top priority in the upcoming budget, adding that over 100,000 jobs would be created in the economic plan. The premier instructed the finance ministry to ensure that relief to the masses would be the central focus in drafting the budget.

Gilani ordered the country’s finance managers to make efforts to bring down prices and keep inflation minimal. He also instructed them to issue as much funds for development as possible.

On the issue of loadshedding and the country’s energy crisis, the prime minister ordered the government to work on the recommendations of the National Energy Conference recently held in Lahore.

Moreover, Gilani also instructed the finance ministry to announce the tax policy and recent revisions and reforms in taxation in the upcoming national budget.

Gilani is the longest-serving prime minister in the country’s history. The upcoming budget will be the fifth budget to be presented since the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) came into power in 2008.