US senator urges 'tough' Pakistan diplomacy after Nato raid
"Our support for them financially is dependent upon their cooperation with us," said Senator Kyl.
WASHINGTON:
A top United States (US) senator called for "tough diplomacy" with Pakistan on Sunday and urged Islamabad to cooperate with the US to maintain its financial aid, following cross-border Nato air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani troops.
"There's a lot of diplomacy that has to occur and it has to be tough diplomacy in the sense that they need to understand that our support for them financially is dependent upon their cooperation with us," Republican Senator Jon Kyl said on the Fox News Sunday talk show.
"We do need their support in the region," he acknowledged.
The air strikes on Saturday brought another chill to already frosty relations between the two uneasy allies, with Islamabad still a key partner for US military operations in neighboring Pakistan.
The US, which depends on Pakistan as a vital lifeline to supply 130,000 foreign troops fighting in landlocked Afghanistan, has scrambled to salvage the alliance.
In a joint statement, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have offered "deepest condolences" and said they backed "Nato's intention to investigate immediately."
Senator Dick Durbin, a top Democrat, on Sunday echoed Clinton and Panetta's statement, offering condolences and saying he was "deeply saddened, but warned that the crisis would likely further endanger US troops in the region.
"As difficult as it is to fight our way through this diplomatic morass, between the incompetence and maybe corruption in Afghanistan and the complicity in parts of Pakistan, our soldiers are caught right in the middle of this, at a time when they're trying to bring peace to this region," he said.
Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, a hawkish foreign policy advisor to former president George W Bush, meanwhile Sunday warned of confronting nuclear-armed Islamabad over US financial aid.
"While it is tempting for many people to say we ought to throw the Pakistanis over the side and stop giving them aid... as long as that country has nuclear weapons that could fall into the hands of radicals and be a threat worldwide, they have incredible leverage," he said.
The United States in 2009 approved a huge five-year, $7.5 billion civilian assistance package for Pakistan, but some US lawmakers have sought to cut civilian aid due to concerns over extremism.
John Huntsman, a former US ambassador to China and current Republican candidate for president, meanwhile said expectations with respect to its south Asian ally "have to be low in terms of what we can get out of the relationship."
Washington "thought we could get more, and we have been proven wrong time and time again," he told Fox News.
A top United States (US) senator called for "tough diplomacy" with Pakistan on Sunday and urged Islamabad to cooperate with the US to maintain its financial aid, following cross-border Nato air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani troops.
"There's a lot of diplomacy that has to occur and it has to be tough diplomacy in the sense that they need to understand that our support for them financially is dependent upon their cooperation with us," Republican Senator Jon Kyl said on the Fox News Sunday talk show.
"We do need their support in the region," he acknowledged.
The air strikes on Saturday brought another chill to already frosty relations between the two uneasy allies, with Islamabad still a key partner for US military operations in neighboring Pakistan.
The US, which depends on Pakistan as a vital lifeline to supply 130,000 foreign troops fighting in landlocked Afghanistan, has scrambled to salvage the alliance.
In a joint statement, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have offered "deepest condolences" and said they backed "Nato's intention to investigate immediately."
Senator Dick Durbin, a top Democrat, on Sunday echoed Clinton and Panetta's statement, offering condolences and saying he was "deeply saddened, but warned that the crisis would likely further endanger US troops in the region.
"As difficult as it is to fight our way through this diplomatic morass, between the incompetence and maybe corruption in Afghanistan and the complicity in parts of Pakistan, our soldiers are caught right in the middle of this, at a time when they're trying to bring peace to this region," he said.
Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, a hawkish foreign policy advisor to former president George W Bush, meanwhile Sunday warned of confronting nuclear-armed Islamabad over US financial aid.
"While it is tempting for many people to say we ought to throw the Pakistanis over the side and stop giving them aid... as long as that country has nuclear weapons that could fall into the hands of radicals and be a threat worldwide, they have incredible leverage," he said.
The United States in 2009 approved a huge five-year, $7.5 billion civilian assistance package for Pakistan, but some US lawmakers have sought to cut civilian aid due to concerns over extremism.
John Huntsman, a former US ambassador to China and current Republican candidate for president, meanwhile said expectations with respect to its south Asian ally "have to be low in terms of what we can get out of the relationship."
Washington "thought we could get more, and we have been proven wrong time and time again," he told Fox News.