Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar today said Pakistan should reopen routes used to ferry supplies for foreign troops in Afghanistan after getting the US to agree to its terms and conditions.
Pakistan should conduct negotiations with the US on these "terms and conditions" and once an agreement is reached, the supply routes could be reopened, Mukhtar told the media. He did not give details about the conditions.
Mukhtar said he had never stated that the NATO supply routes should be reopened immediately. "There should not be any misunderstandings with the US. Our two countries have enjoyed good ties and it is our duty to mend relations," he said.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said last week that it would not be much of a problem to reopen the supply routes after a parliamentary review of Pakistan-US relations.
Mukhtar expressed a similar view, saying: "I think the people who are deciding, who are giving recommendations, will make the right decision."
However, he remarked that the two sides were yet to resolve their differences on US drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal belt. Islamabad will continue to raise this issue until the differences are resolved, he said.
Pakistan closed the supply routes after a cross-border NATO air strike on military border posts killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November last year. The two sides have traded charges on the incident, with Islamabad insisting that the attack was deliberate.
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