Relationship with Pakistan not deteriorating: Allen

"I don't see, necessarily, that it is a deterioration. I think the fact that we are talking about reopening the ground line of communications is a very positive step in that regard," General John Allen, Commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told reporters during a Pentagon news conference.

"Now, it is a negotiation and negotiations take time, so I can't predict what the outcome will be and how soon that will be. But I have recently led a team to Islamabad to renew our conversation with the Pakistani military in the context of the Tripartite Commission; the first time in a year.

 

It was a very positive conversation about taking steps and measures necessary to prevent a recurrence of the events of 25 and 26 November," he said responding to a question.

"I think it's important to understand that Pakistan has many of its own challenges on the eastern side of that international frontier," he said, adding Pakistan is engaged in a significant counterinsurgency campaign.

"And it's been engaged in that for some period of time. The effects of many of their operations have been helpful to us on the other side of the border. We hadn't had a conversation with them in almost a year on that level," he said.

"So with the reopening of the conversation about the ground line of communications, with the, I think, positive outcomes of the conversations that we had over two days in Islamabad, I don't see that there is a decrease in the relationship or a decline, necessarily, in the relationship," he said.

"I think we're actually poised to improve where we were, frankly, and I look forward to continuing a constructive series of engagements with General Kayani and the Pakistani military over time," he noted.

"We committed ourselves to recurring meetings, to ensure that we're properly organized to take maximum advantage of both the time on the ground, the passage of time from the year ago when we last met, with the idea of creating a constructive long-term relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan in that regard," Allen said.

General Allen said Pakistan and the region are extraordinarily important to America