US to Unveil Security Assistance Package Totalling $2 billion Over Five Years

The United States hopes to mend its relations with Pakistan badly damaged by the American military’s tough new stance in the region during their high-level talks beginning Thursday at which it plans to unveil a security assistance package totalling $2 billion over five years.“Pakistan has taken aggressive action within its own borders. But clearly, this is an ongoing threat and more needs to be done,” the State Department spokesman, Philip Crowley, said Monday. “That will be among the issues talked about.”

Last week, Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that General Kayani had assured him that Pakistan’s army would tackle the North Waziristan haven, but on Pakistan’s timetable. In an interview, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, said, “Our American partners understand that we have 34,000 troops in North Waziristan. Our soldiers have been engaged in flood relief after history’s worst floods. It is not a question of lack of will.”Qureshi blamed the United States for the situation, saying Washington signed a civilian nuclear accord with India that discriminated against Pakistan. “You have disturbed the nuclear balance,” he said in a recent interview in New York, “and we have been forced to develop a new strategy.”

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