We never broke our relations with the US: Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today said it wants "normal and mutually beneficial" ties with Washington but the shape of future bilateral relationship will be decided by an ongoing parliamentary review ordered by the government.

"There is a mutual desire to have normal and mutually beneficial relations. We never broke our relations with the US. There is a problem and both sides are working to overcome the current difficulties in our bilateral relations," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said during a weekly news briefing.

"Everything hinges on the final policy guidelines we get from the parliament and we're all waiting for the process to complete," he said in response to questions on the review that was ordered after a cross-border NATO air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

Recent visits to Islamabad by senior American civil and military officials were aimed at "discussing all the issues threadbare" and to see "how best we can address the present difficulties", Basit said.

Relations with the US would be strengthened after the completion of the parliamentary review, he said.