Pleased with the settling of the leadership issue in Pakistan, the Obama Administration today said it is looking forward to work with the new prime minister hoping this would provide them with an opportunity to get the
relationship back on track.
“We are pleased that leadership issue has been settled. We obviously look forward to working with the new Prime
Minister,” State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland,told reporters during an off camera news conference here.
“We hope that this would open space to continue to roll out our sleeves and get back on track with all of the things that we want to do with Pakistan,” Nuland said responding to questions on the election of Raja Pervez Ashraf as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan.
America’s ties with the US nose-dived during the premiership of Yousuf Raza Gilani, with a series of incidents
including the covert raid that killed Osama bin Laden and a NATO strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Responding to a question on an American commander’s statement that the Haqqani network was behind the latest
terrorist attack in Kabul that killed a large number of people, the spokesperson said that the US has been pushing
Pakistan to “squeeze” this terrorist outfit.
The United States, she noted, has been making the point with Pakistan for long time that it needs to take action
against the terrorist network.
Nuland applauded the professionalism of the Afghan National Security Forces in successfully ending the attack and
freeing the hostages.
The Afghan forces accomplished this without any help from the US forces, she pointed out.
———————PTI