Pakistani FM to Kerry: Don't Forget About Us - East Idaho News
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Pakistani FM to Kerry: Don’t Forget About Us

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ABC 012714 KerryPakSD?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1390849182393State Department photo/ Public Domain(WASHINGTON) — As they met to kick off the U.S./Pakistan Strategic Dialogue summit, it didn’t take Secretary of State John Kerry and Pakistani national security adviser Sartaj Aziz long to address the diplomatic elephant in the room: how does Pakistan fit in to the United States’ counterterrorism efforts after most American troops leave Afghanistan?

The backdrop for this week’s talks — the first of their kind since 2010 — was the undefined future American troop presence in the region, with a reticent Afghan president Hamid Karzai still refusing to sign an agreement that would establish a mission there post-2014. Core al Qaeda is hanging on, hidden in Pakistan’s tribal lands, and the U.S. is concerned about losing the logistical capability necessary to launch drone strikes into the area — as noted in a New York Times article Monday.

“Although the war in Afghanistan may be winding down, just as in the past, Pakistan will have to face the brunt of any instability that may engulf Afghanistan after 2014,” Aziz told Kerry.

But Aziz downplayed his country’s opposition to the drone strikes which he himself called “a violation of our sovereignty” as recently as August, when Kerry visited Pakistan.

Instead, he urged Kerry to consider Pakistan’s security when mapping out the US’s future in the region. “Historically, Pakistan’s security concerns were not taken into account when the U.S. decided to withdraw from Afghanistan in the early ’90s after the defeat of the Soviet forces with Pakistan’s active support, or even when invaded Afghanistan after 9/11,” he said.

Kerry acknowledged those concerns but didn’t allude to any “deliverables” that might come out of the strategic dialogue. “We know how closely Pakistan’s own security is linked to Afghanistan’s success. That’s why addressing the threats posed to both Pakistan and Afghanistan by cross-border militancy is a key aspect of our conversations this week,” he said.

Aziz also had a sharp characterization of the U.S./Pakistani relationship, which has been marred since 2010 by the drone strikes, as well as the Osama bin Laden raid in 2011, calling it a “transactional relationship” that must be transformed into a “strategic partnership.”

Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio

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