US to monitor parliamentary review debate

The US State Departments spokesperson, Victoria Nuland was asked Monday about the US administrations expectations as the parliament in Islamabad from Tuesday starts discussing the best way forward for Pakistan’s relations with U.S.We will obviously watch the parliamentary debate with interest, and we look forward to re-engaging with the Government of Pakistan when it has a sense of the results of that review, she stated.On the time elapsed during the review process, she said the US had no issues with it. We have said that we will give Pakistan the time and the space to have this parliamentary review, Ms Nuland pointed out.Referring to President Zardaris address to the joint parliamentary session on Saturday, she said President Zardari made a speech underscoring the importance of the relationship that we have together.One of the points in Pakistani discussions is that it has paid a heavy price in fighting terrorists along the Afghan border and its soldiers and civilians have been killed. And there is not enough acknowledgment of its role and the sacrifices it has made. What do you think about this point, which is discussed a lot in Pakistani media and think tanks?, asked a reporter during the briefing.Well, a point that we make almost every time we talk about the importance of US-Pakistani counter-terrorism cooperation is how much Pakistan has suffered -– its civilians as victims of terror and its soldiers in trying to defeat terror, the spokesperson acknowledged.So we understand the risk to Pakistani society, and that is among the reasons why we are so intent on trying to help and trying to work together to beat this scourge, she asserted.The parliamentary review of the relationship with US started after the NATO attack on Salala check-post on November 26 last year that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan has since closed down ground supply routes for NATO from its territory in protest besides going for the overall review of the nature of bilateral ties.- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC