US seeks more EU engagement in Pakistan

The United States has sought more engagement from European countries in Pakistan and Afghanistan, mainly on the civilian side, ahead of the first-ever EU-Pak summit in Brussels, a top Obama Administration official has said.      

"We are indeed actively encouraging the Europeans to do more on the civilian side in Afghanistan and Pakistan, just as we are," Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon said yesterday at a Congressional hearing.      

"There's a Pakistan pledging conference this week, and we have been strongly encouraging our European allies to get more engaged there and do what they can, because we have also reached the conclusion that you can't solve Afghanistan unless you solve Pakistan, and that requires a lot of assistance," Gordon said.      

"We have told them we understand there are constraints on what you can do on the military side, but it's in our common interest that you do more on the civil side. And we hope that they will," he said in his testimony.