Washington, March 26: Underlining that the Obama administration has made a “strategic priority” to strengthen its partnership with Pakistan, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the US efforts in that country were vital for America’s success in Afghanistan.
“In Pakistan, our efforts are vital to success in Afghanistan, but also to our own American security. We’ve made it a strategic priority to strengthen our partnership with the Pakistani people,” Clinton said before Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programmes.
I’m under no illusion that success in this arena will come quickly or easily. But think about where we were a year ago. The extremists were 100 miles from Islamabad. They met little resistance in launching attacks on American troops from border areas. Since then, the Pakistani Government has launched important offences in Swat, South Waziristan and throughout the country, she said.
–PTI