By NNN-APP,
Washington : The United States has been encouraged by the recent trends in Pakistani public opinion recognizing the importance of US-Pakistan strategic partnership, which takes into account the needs of the key regional anti-terrorism ally, the State Department said.
“We are encouraged by the recent trends in Pakistani public opinion that recognize the value of the ongoing strategic dialogue and ever-improving cooperation between the United States and Pakistan,” Assistant Secretary of State P J Crowley, said.
Many people in Pakistan recognize the “positive tone and substance” in the US-Pakistan relationship, the spokesman added at the daily briefing, rejecting suggestions that the US was somehow responsible for a recent terrorist attack on a rally in Pakistan.
“Our strategic partnership involves working together to address the needs of the Pakistani people and the security of Pakistan and the region,” Crowley stated.
Looking back over a couple of years, the spokesman remarked, the public opinion of the US-Pakistan relationship was not very high.
“I think public opinion polling in the teens in terms of favorability ratings, and that is of great concern to us. We have spent a great deal of effort building this relationship, explaining more significantly to the Pakistani people the – along with the Secretary (Hillary Clinton) in Pakistan doing that (during her October 2009 visit), and we think that has helped changed the environment.”
Crowley said “there was a significant and positive response to the recent US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue,” but added, “this remains a work in progress.”
The spokesman hoped that the Pakistani civil society would recognize the value of the US-Pakistan “emerging relationship, the fact that we are in it for the long term, see the importance of it not only to Pakistan but to the region as a whole — we will continue this dialogue with Pakistan, its government and its citizens, in the coming weeks and months.”