KARACHI: United States’ ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter said in an interview to BBCUrdu that although the Nato land routes through Pakistan had been restored, he looked forward to increased economic cooperation and providing assistance to Pakistan to deal with the problems of militancy and terrorism.

He insisted that Pakistan needed to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

The US ambassador said that there was a need for mutual cooperation between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US to counter the problem of domestic terrorism in Pakistan.

He said that “the resumption of Nato supply routes was an issue for Pakistan as it had deteriorated the country’s ties with around 50 states who are its allies in the war on terror”.

Replying to a question, Munter said that although he was not part of the negotiation team he thought that both countries had accepted the reality that they would have to work together.

On a question regarding the delay in offering an apology over the Salala incident, the envoy said that the incident was a very sensitive and emotional matter.

“The deaths of the soldiers, the pain of their families, we understand why it was an emotional situation in Pakistan. But the other circumstances that delayed the process were Pakistan’s internal politics and the emergence of certain issues on our part as well. It was felt on both sides that the deadlock was futile,” he said.