US cannot live with or without Pakistan: Gilani

Prime minister says Pakistan wants good relation with US based on 'mutual respect and mutual interests'.


September 23, 2011
US cannot live with or without Pakistan: Gilani

KARACHI: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Friday that the United States (US) cannot live with or without Pakistan and that it should “avoid sending wrong messages which could affect bilateral ties.”

Speaking to the media after the inaugural ceremony of three reconstructed berths at Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Gilani said such messages would create political problems for the government to promote relations between the two countries.

He said the US was an important country and that Pakistan wanted good relations with it “based on mutual respect and mutual interests.”

The US should take care of the feelings of 180 million people of Pakistan while issuing statements or commenting on important issues, said Gilani.

"Our 180 million people want to defend their motherland and its sovereignty".

Answering a question, the prime minister said he had canceled his US visit because he wanted to monitor the relief and rehabilitation operations in the flood-hit areas.

Gilani’s statement comes after US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, had said the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency was closely tied to the Haqqani Network, the most violent and effective faction in the Afghan Taliban insurgency.

Mullen said on Thursday the ISI had played a role in the September 13 attack on the US embassy in Kabul, supporting militants known as the Haqqani network. That network, he had said, is a “veritable arm” of the ISI.

COMMENTS (47)

maz3tt | 13 years ago | Reply

Correction: Pakistani elites ,leaders can't live without US.

Ali Khan Takkar | 13 years ago | Reply United States (US) cannot live with or without Pakistan and that it should “avoid sending wrong messages which could affect bilateral ties.” pakistan zanda bad i love pakistan
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