Developments in Pak very serious; relationship complicated: Kerry

Nov 30, 2011 |

Washington

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Senator John Kerry, who is known as the Obama Administration's trouble shooter on Pakistan, believes that the situation in the country is very serious and the US-Pak relationship is now facing a major challenge.

"It's very serious. It's very complicated," Kerry told Indian reporters on the sidelines of a reception for the new Indian Ambassador to the US, Nirupama Rao, when asked about the developments in Pakistan in the wake of the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers by NATO forces in a cross-border fire over the weekend.

The incident has made the Pakistan government and its people furious, as a result of which Islamabad has stopped the crucial NATO supply route – which the lifeline for 140,000 US and international troops in Afghanistan. It also asked US to vacate the secret Shamsi airbase which is apparently used by the CIA for drone attacks and have announced to boycott the upcoming important international meet in Bonn on Afghanistan.

"I think it's a serious challenge. (We) have a lot of concerns," Kerry said when asked about the reaction from Pakistan especially boycott of the Bonn conference. In the nearly three years of Obama Administration, the White House has heavily relied on Kerry's diplomatic skills to build up the relationship with Pakistan, every time its ties with Islamabad are in a deep crisis.

In the past Kerry has flown to Pakistan several times to successfully overcome those challenges and resolve the differences between the two countries, be it the Raymond David case or the aftermath of the May 2 incident when Osama bin Laden was killed and a US helicopter was stuck in the Abbottabad compound after the operation. Kerry, a key architect of the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill was instrumental in passage of the bill that resulted in providing USD 7.5 billion in civilian aid to Pakistan over a period of five years.

He is known to have close relationship with top Pakistani leaders and military officials. It is not clear yet, what role Kerry is willing to play when the relationship between the two countries is said to be at its lowest ebb in the nearly three years of Obama Administration.

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