By IANS,
Islamabad : Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) General John R. Allen Thursday called on Pakistan Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to discuss issues related to security and stability in the region.
Kayani reiterated that the Pakistan-US relationship should be based on mutual trust, respect and transparency, Geo News reported.
Allen said he was “pleased with the upward spiral” in the relationship.
“We are making significant progress toward building a partnership that is enduring, strategic, carefully defined, and that enhances the security and prosperity of the region,” the ISAF commander was quoted as saying.
The visit comes at a time when tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan has reached a peak over cross-border attacks, Xinhua reported.
Afghanistan says Pakistani forces are firing rockets on its border regions, which have caused casualties and displaced hundreds of families while Pakistan argues that militants launch attacks on its border posts and villages and that ISAF and Afghan forces have failed to stop these attacks.
Afghan militants have carried out 15 attacks on Pakistani posts over the past one year and killed around 100 security personnel and civilians, a Pakistani official said.
Pakistan Tuesday said it has raised the issue of cross-border attacks with the ISAF as well as Afghanistan.
ISAF had Sunday rejected as “incorrect” a statement that the Pakistani military had notified it 52 times that insurgents were crossing the Afghan border.
“Whenever the Pakistani military has requested assistance, ISAF immediately dispatched the appropriate force to deal with the issue,” said an ISAF statement.
A Pakistani foreign ministry statement said the most recent cross border attacks took place in Dir district in the northwest tribal region June 24 and July 12. At least 23 Pakistani soldiers were killed in another attack on a check-post in Dir.