These hearings do not always reflect the official stance of the United States government.
TAMPA, FL, US: This is with reference to your report titled, “US congressional hearing on Balochistan” of February 11. The US Congress routinely holds these types of hearings on a number of foreign affairs topics. These hearings do not always reflect the official stance of the United States government. US State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland has already said that the US administration has not changed its policy and continues to see Balochistan as part of the Pakistani state. Responding to a question on this topic, Ms Nuland said, “Our view on Balochistan has not changed. We are aware of this hearing. As you know, Congress holds hearings on many foreign affairs topics. These hearings don’t necessarily imply that the US government endorses one view or another view. I’d underscore that the State Department is not participating or involved in this hearing”.
We have said before and we would like to say again that we strongly support the unity and the stability of Pakistan. As President Obama stated clearly, “what we have tried to do over the last several years, has been to engage aggressively with the Pakistani government to communicate that we want nothing more than a stable, prosperous, peaceful Pakistan and that we will work with the Pakistani government in order to eradicate this extremism that we consider a cancer within the country that can potentially engulf the country”.
Maj David Nevers
United States Central Command
Published in The Express Tribune, February 15th, 2012.
