Pakistan not going to change orientation against India: Barack Obama's aide

WASHINGTON: In a candid admission, a close aide of US President Barack Obama has said Pakistan is not going to completely change its "strategic orientation" against India which it considers a threat and would not be comfortable with an Afghan government closely aligned with New Delhi.

"Pakistan is not going to have completely changed the strategic orientation, which means that they are not going to be comfortable with a Kabul government that is too closely aligned with India, which means that they're going to be nervous about the Northern Alliance, which means that they're going to be continuing to seek hedges," the aide told a group of reporters travelling with the President on Air Force One.

His remarks indicate that the Obama administration has given up its relentless efforts of the past three years to make Pakistan realise that India is not a threat.

President Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan under the cover of the night to sign a historic Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA), in which US pledges support to the war-torn country for a decade after 2014, when NATO forces are planning to conclude their combat role.

Briefing reporters on Air Force One, the senior administration official said the US is building international consensus around peace and stability in South Asia.

"As a part of that, we believe that Pakistan can and should be an equal partner in a way that respects Pakistani sovereignty interests and democratic institutions," the official said.

"We have made clear and will continue to do so that we have significant interest in an end to al-Qaeda safe havens and, of course, respect for Afghan sovereignty," the official noted in his remarks which were echoed by none other than President himself in his address to the nation from the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.