WASHINGTON, Feb 16: Divorce is not an option with Pakistan, says the US State Department while stressing the need for re-establishing a relationship that is passing through a difficult patch.

“Divorce is not an option with Pakistan. We have strategic interests in common; we have a lot of work to do together,” said the department’s spokesperson Victoria Nuland.

The US official was commenting on a policy speech Pakistan’s Ambassador Sherry Rehman made in Washington on Wednesday, stressing the need for resetting the relationship between the two countries.

Ambassador Rehman pointed out that the US refusal to offer an apology after the Nov 26 Nato attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers contributed to creating the bitterness that marred this relationship.

The Pakistani envoy reiterated her country’s desire to fight terrorists but also warned against state-sponsored unilateralism, an indirect reference to the US decision to kill Osama bin Laden in a hideout deep inside Pakistan without informing Islamabad.

Despite these problems, Pakistan was trying to “avoid divorce,” she added.

“So what is the US doing on its part to avoid the divorce she’s talking about between the US and Pakistan?” a journalist asked.

While insisting that divorce was not an option, Ms Nuland said: “We have a national interest in a Pakistan that is increasingly stable, peaceful, free of terror, democratic, et cetera.”That’s why, she said, the two countries continued to do a lot of work together despite strained relations.

“We’re looking forward to the completion of Pakistan’s internal review of our military-to-military relationship so we can get back to all the important work we have together,” she said.

If not divorce, “are you just on a break?” asked another journalist.

“Well, I always thought that the correct familial analogy was mother-in-law, which is what was used in – it wasn’t a marriage, per se,” Ms Nuland replied.

“So it’s complicated?” the journalist asked again.“That’s right, that’s right,” Ms Nuland replied.

Commenting on Pakistan’s desire to increase trade with Washington, the official said that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was one of the most vocal advocates of switching much of US economic ties with Pakistan from aid to trade.

“That’s been the focus of the Department’s efforts with the Pakistani government over the last couple of years, and some of the internal reviews we’ve done are focused on that,” she said.

“So we are investing in the economic health and strength of the country. We are investing in energy. We’re investing in education. We are investing in democracy programmes and development, – and micro-lending and all of these kinds of things.”

The move from aid to trade, she noted, was not about improving US image. “It’s about helping to strengthen a stable, peaceful, democratic Pakistan.”