'Nawaz Sharif may have to bite the bullet and live with drone strikes'

Nawaz Sharif's commitment to restore Pakistan's shattered economy, which is unimaginable without international assistance, means that like his predecessors, he may have to bite the bullet and live with drone strikes, an analytical piece in a British newspaper has said.

The article in The Independent said that the latest US drone strike in Pakistan's tribal region of North Waziristan, which is reported to have killed a senior militant commander, is sure to compound the challenge for Sharif to normalise Pakistan's relations with the United States.

In recent years drone strikes have become the main source of tension in US-Pakistan relations and surfaced as a major issue during the recent elections and Sharif has described the attacks as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty, the article said.

Sharif has vowed to engage the US in "serious" negotiations to end the strikes.

While Sharif is mindful of his rivals using the latest strike to put him on the defensive, he is unlikely to endorse any shift that could spell a break in relations with the US, the article further said.

The strike, which followed a cautious Pakistani welcome to President Obama's undertaking last week to scale back the drone strike programme, is also sure to be seen as a pre-emptive blow to Sharif's hopes of a political settlement with the Pakistani Taliban, the article added.