WASHINGTON: The United States has denied that it is orchestrating an anti-Pakistan campaign with a series of recent statements, saying it is only trying to make the case for cooperative efforts against terrorist threat.
"We obviously reject that completely," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in response to a question about negative perceptions created in Pakistan by a series of statements emanating from Washington, particularly the controversial claims made by retired Admiral Mike Mullen on the extent of Pakistani contacts with the Haqqani Afghan militants.
"We believe and we are trying to make the case to the Pakistani people, as well as to Pakistani leaders, that only working together are we going to defeat this threat to both of us," she clarified, as the US sought progress towards ending the decade-old conflict in Afghanistan.
Islamabad has strongly rejected assertions that it’s security agencies back Afghan militants for attacks inside Afghanistan, where ten years after the war, the ground situation remains unclear in the face of continuing Taliban insurgency.
The United States is also trying to make it better known in Pakistan about all of the civilian assistance given in an effort to strengthen democracy, education system, economy "because that is also one of the best deterrents to extremism," Nuland noted.
Washington, the spokesperson said, has an "intense relationship" with Pakistan on a number of issues, including on the counterterrorism docket and noted that Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defence, the head of the CIA have all been in contact in recent weeks with their Pakistani counterparts.
She also referred to special envoy Marc Grossman's imminent visit to Islamabad.
"We are going to continue working on this issue of counterterrorism together because it is in both of our interests."
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