Pakistan, US agree to bridge ‘trust deficit’

[sonicboom]

Pakistan, US agree to bridge ‘trust deficit’

* US official says his country’s top priority is to win war against terror
* Both sides review defence cooperation
* Pakistan appreciates US support in fight against extremism

By Iqbal Choudhry

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States have stepped forward, under the strategic dialogue, to overcome the ‘trust deficit’ between the two countries, US Deputy Assistant Secretary on Defence for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia David Samuel Sedney said on Thursday.

“We are improving our big trust deficit and we have discussion on military-to-military relationship and other areas,” Sedney said during a roundtable discussion at the residence of the US ambassador in Islamabad.

Sedney is visiting Pakistan as head of a US defence delegation that held four-day meetings with local military officials as the follow-up of the recent Pakistan-US strategic dialogue.

He said that the defence officials of both countries would meet again in the mid-July and start of August, declaring the current interaction positive.

Top priority: He said the US appreciated the military capabilities of Pakistan, adding that several military-related issues came under discussion during the high-level talks. “We discuss deeper strategic needs and each other’s priorities,” he said. “Our top priority is to win the war against Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said highlighting the US military interests. “It will be a prejudgement to say anything at the moment about the outcome of the meetings (with the Pakistani military leadership), however, we exchanged security necessities of both countries,” he said.

Defence review: Separately, a US embassy press release said that both sides discussed and reviewed cooperation in defence, focused on the mutual challenges associated with multi-year cooperation between Pakistan and the US to review mechanism for prioritising and integrating security and defence capability requirements. The US delegation recognised the extraordinary sacrifices made by the Pakistan Army, law enforcement agencies and the people in the fight against terrorism.

Pakistani appreciation: Pakistan appreciated the US support and assistance to its security forces in the fight against extremism, the press release said.

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