US eager to rebuild trust with Pakistan military: Pentagon

Washington: Pleased at the latest round of meeting between the top military leadership of the US and Pakistan, the Pentagon today said that it wants to build trust and confidence with the Pakistani military. “We want to rebuild the trust and confidence between our two militaries,” General Martin E Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters travelling with him in South America. Dempsey was responding to questions on the meeting in Pakistan yesterday wherein Gen James Mattis, Commander of US Central Command and Gen. John Allen, commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, met Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.

US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta (R) and Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey. Reuters

It was the highest level-military meeting between the two countries since a November 26 cross-border NATO air raid in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed. Dempsey said he has spoken with Kayani at least five times since the border incident. The Pakistanis, he said, want to reset the military-to-military relationship with the US including working the border issues with the Pakistanis and reopening the ground supply lines through Pakistan to Afghanistan. According to American Forces Press Service, Dempsey said he believes the two militaries can discuss what must be done in Pakistan’s federally administered tribal areas to improve the situation in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Militant groups have taken root in the tribal areas that pose a threat to the national government and to neighboring Afghanistan, he said. Dempsey also said Pakistani leaders regard India as a threat, and most of their armed forces are facing east. Until more troops are made available, the situation in the tribal areas probably will remain as it is with many areas under government control and others like the Wild West, he added. PTI