US' strategic partnership with Pak to continue: Crowley

ISLAMABAD: Despite the fall-out from the deluge of diplomatic cables having been released by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, the United States expects that cooperation, support and partnership in the US-Pakistan relationship will continue.

During a press briefing, when asked whether the "WikiLeaks documents can or will create any sort of confusion or increased tension between Pakistan and the U.S. Army," US State Department Spokesman Philip J. Crowley said: "First... we'll put the documents aside. We are building a strategic partnership with Pakistan, and that's manifest in the strategic dialogue that we've had on multiple occasions this year in Washington and in Islamabad."

"Our partnership has multiple dimensions. One, on the military side, there is extensive cooperation between the Pakistani military and the United States military, and we would expect that to continue. And on the civilian side, we are building up - helping to build up the capacity of the Pakistani Government to deal with a range of challenges, not the least of which is recovering from the recent flooding," Crowley said.

"This is in our national interest. It is in Pakistan's national interest. President Zardari once again affirmed the importance of our cooperation and the support and partnership that we - that is involved in our relationship, and we would expect that to continue," he added.

Responding to another question, Crowley said that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had telephoned Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to "regret the fact that cables were released."