Following last month's deadly NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
strike which killed 24 Pak soldiers and led to a sharp decline in bilateral ties between both countries.
"This relationship is complicated, but it's also essential to both the United States and Pakistain. And we are working very hard to keep open channels and to get back to work together," Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokesperson, said.
On efforts towards repairing the relationship, the spokesperson referred to ongoing US-Pak contacts including Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton... sometimes described as
America's Blond Eminenceand at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as
Another John C. Calhoun...
's call to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
as well as the latest meeting between US Ambassador in Islamabad Cameron Muner and Pakistain's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
"We are continuing our intensive engagement, including through the recent meeting between Ambassador Munter and Foreign Minister Khar. Obviously, we are both trying to roll up our sleeves and get back to work together," said Nuland.
"With regard to what might emerge from any internal review, I would refer you to the Government of Pakistain on that. But we are obviously making very clear that we think we have hard work to do together, and we need to get back to it as quickly as we can."
In reaction to the November 26 attacks on two Pak border posts, which infuriated the Pak public and government, Islamabad shut down two routes for NATO supplies. The United States has also reportedly vacated the Shamsi airbase in Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
province, as asked by Pakistain in the aftermath of the NATO strikes.
In addition to seeking anti-militant cooperation along the porous Afghan border, the United States and its allies rely greatly on Pakistain for transportation of fuel and other supplies for the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
Despite recent efforts to ramp up supplies from Central Asian northern route into landlocked Afghanistan, a large percentage of supplies must still pass through Pak border routes to sustain the 10-year-old war.