Vying for success in Afghan through Pak: Hillary

Washington, Mar 26: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday, Mar 26 said that the US efforts in Pakistan was vital for America's success in Afghanistan.

"In Pakistan, our efforts are vital to success in Afghanistan, but also to our own American security. We've made it a strategic priority to strengthen our partnership with the Pakistani people," Clinton said before Senate appropriations subcommittee on state, foreign operations and related programmes.

"I'm under no illusion that success in this arena will come quickly or easily. But think about where we were a year ago. The extremists were 100 miles from Islamabad. They met little resistance in launching attacks on American troops from border areas. Since then, the Pakistani government has launched important offences in Swat, South Waziristan and throughout the country," she said.

Speaking of its commitment to the people of Pakistan, Clinton said that US has worked extremely hard to improve its relationship with Pakistan.

"Yesterday at the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, we worked very hard -- in fact, late into the night -- to advance the resolve that we have begun building with the Pakistani leadership. The $370 million we're requesting for assistance and operations in this supplemental will allow us to expand civilian cooperation at a critical moment," Clinton said.

Clinton said that the military offensives have created the need to adress humanitarian needs, which if not handled on time could make the areas breeding ground for extremism.

"And in much of the country, water, energy, and economic problems create new challenges. So our success depends on rapidly and sustainably scaling up our efforts, especially in high-impact projects that visibly demonstrate our long-term commitment on helping the Pakistanis build capacity while ensuring accountability," she noted.

OneIndia News