US makes no comment on Pak Parliamentary committee suggestions

Washington: The US has refrained from making any comment on the set of recommendations made by a Pakistani Parliamentary committee on normalisation of Islamabad’s ties with Washington. The Parliamentary committee demanded an end to CIA-operated drone strikes and a civil nuclear deal similar to the Indo-US agreement besides 38 other demands. “We’ve seen this first set of recommendations. Our understanding is that the procedure now will be that, having tabled these recommendations, there’ll be a parliamentary discussion of them; that that will resume on 26 March,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters. [caption id=“attachment_251041” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland. AFP”]  [/caption] “So I don’t think we’re going to comment until we see the outcome of the full parliamentary debate and let their process go forward,” Nuland said. Responding to questions, Nuland said the US has always considered that its relationship with Pakistan should be grounded on the basis of mutual respect and common interest. “We believe that we have a lot to do together, not only in combating terrorism and creating more security but in strengthening and promoting economic prosperity, democratic development inside Pakistan, and in strengthening Pakistan as a good neighbour throughout the region, strengthening its ties in the neighbourhood,” she said. “So all of those things are the work that we have to do together and that’s in our interest to contribute to.” Referring to the New Silk Road initiative of the US, Nuland said the Obama Administration is trying to strengthen ties among all the countries in that region. “We have been supportive, for example, of warming ties between India and Pakistan, between Pakistan and Afghanistan. So it’s an ongoing work in progress,” she said. Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that Pakistan is important for the US because of its role in Afghanistan and the war against terrorism in the region. “One of the reasons why the relationship with Pakistan remains extremely important to us is because of the role that Pakistan plays in our efforts to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan and achieve our objectives in terms of taking the fight to and ultimately defeating Al-Qaeda,” he said. “There is a parliamentary-led process under way in Pakistan, and we respect that process. And we will continue awaiting the outcome of that process, to hear formally from the Pakistani government about how they would like to engage moving forward,” he said in response to a question. “I think it’s important also to note that the United States has critical national security priorities that we continue to pursue, including counterterrorism efforts aimed at Al-Qaeda, strengthening Afghan security and supporting Afghan-led reconciliation, all are areas where we believe we have common goals with Pakistan,” Carney said. The US will continue to move forward on those areas, because they’re in its national security interest, he said. PTI