"Everybody knows Pakistan has a big stake in the outcome of what goes on across their border, and they are going to be involved one way or the other," America's top diplomat said. She was responding to a question at an American think tank interaction as to how she saw Pakistan's role going forward in the Afghan reconciliation process in the backdrop of a series of events this year that have undermined the US-Pakistan relationship. "This is a very difficult relationship, but I believe strongly that it is not one we can walk away from and expect that anything will turn out better, because I don't believe that will be the case." "Therefore, we are deeply engaged in finding ways to enhance cooperation with Pakistan and to further the Afghan desire for a legitimate peace and reconciliation process," she added, after delivering a speech on 'American Global Leadership' at Center for American Progress. Clinton remarked that Washington continues to push forward on expectations it has from Pakistan. "Pakistan has to be part of the solution, or they will continue to be part of the problem. And therefore, as frustrating as it is, we just keep every day going at it, and I think we make very slow, sometimes barely discernible progress, but we're moving in the right direction." At the same time, Clinton acknowledged difficulties Afghanistan faces as international forces move towards drawdown in NATO-set date of 2014 while Afghans seek reconciliation and semblance of normalcy return to their country, after three decades of internal strife and wars. "We have always said that we wanted to support an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned reconciliation process. And I think after a lot of very deep thought and consideration, President Karzai believes we have to follow through on that, and that it is essential to see whether there is an opportunity within the red lines that we agree upon to bring at least some of the Taliban and related insurgents to the peace table." She also referred to the Obama Administration's plan that it set to contain the Taliban momentum in Afghanistan and claimed it has succeeded. "Now, it's always difficult in the midst of conflict because we are continuing to kill them, as many as we can, to take them off the battlefield, to try to neutralize them and the role they play in killing Afghans, Americans, and other members of the coalition, and they are continuing to fight us. "So there is no agreed upon end point here. We're not saying okay, let's stop everything and talk, because we believe and I think the evidence is clear on this that the decision President Obama made on taking office and then the second decision he made to first stop, and then reverse, the momentum of the Taliban, has actually succeeded," she explained. Continuing her long reply to the question of reconciliation, Clinton said "what we are trying to do is, with the Afghans, explore every possible route for any legitimate negotiations." But as we are reminded with the Rabbani assassination, he was meeting with somebody who had convinced everyone all the way to President Karzai that he was there as a legitimate representative of the Taliban to pursue reconciliation, and he was there as an assassin. So there is nothing easy about this for even the Afghans. And it is, after all, their culture, so it is also very difficult to us to try to be supportive of them." Looking ahead in the larger regional perspective, the US diplomat particularly talked about an upcoming conference (November 2 ) in Istanbul and progress toward New Silk Road initiative. "The United States put on the table a positive vision for the region because I believe strongly it's not just enough to tell people what we're against, guess what! - we're against terrorism -- but to tell people we're for regional economic integration, we're for opening up borders so that Afghans, Pakistanis, Uzbeks, and others can trade and make money and get into the Indian market as well. So we put forward this vision of the New Silk Road, which we are working very hard on and which there has been a great positive response to in the region. So there's a lot that we're moving simultaneously, as we obviously begin to draw down our troops, as we abide by the schedule set out at the NATO summit at Lisbon, and as we explore with the Afghans what our strategic partnership will be after 2014."