WASHINGTON: The US President Barack Obama has said that the United States will continue to work with Pakistan to bring stability to Afghanistan and maintaining peace in South Asia.
“We will … work with the countries of the region, including Pakistan, to mitigate the threat from terrorism and to support a viable peace and reconciliation process to end the violence in Afghanistan and improve regional stability,” Obama said while speaking on National Security Strategy at Congress in Washington on Friday.
“We will continue to work with both India and Pakistan to promote strategic stability, combat terrorism, and advance regional economic integration in South and Central Asia,” he said.
The US president also lauded Pakistan’s peace efforts for establishing peace in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the US State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said that Pakistan and India are vital for the US strategic interests in the region.
“We have relationships with India and with Pakistan. They’re both strong, they’re both vital to our strategic interests, and they both stand on their own,” Harf said at her daily press briefing in Washington.
In reply to a question, the spokesperson said that the United States is working with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and other partners to train and assist the Afghan national army.