US gears up for limited relationship with Pakistan: report

After a year of deteriorating relations between US and Pakistan, American officials are gearing up for a ''limited'' counter-terrorism alliance with Islamabad that will include restricted drone strikes against militants and a reduced aid, a media report reported today.

"With the US facing the reality that its broad security partnership with Pakistan is over, American officials are seeking to salvage a more limited counter-terrorism alliance that they acknowledge will complicate their ability to launch attacks against extremists and move supplies into Afghanistan," the New York Times reported quoting American and Pakistani officials.

Under this limited alliance, America will be forced to restrict drone strikes, limit the number of its spies and soldiers on the ground and dish out more to move supplies through Pakistan to allied troops in Afghanistan.

US aid to Pakistan will also see sharp reductions, the officials said.
"We've closed the chapter on the post-9/11 period," the NYT quoted a senior US official as saying.

"Pakistan has told us very clearly that they are re-evaluating the entire relationship."
While the relationship will endure in some form, American officials said the contours will not be clear until Pakistan completes its wide-ranging review in the coming weeks.
"We feel like the US treats Pakistan like a rainy-day girlfriend," opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Q's secretary general Mushahid Hussain said, summing up the anger many Pakistanis harbour against America.

From working on a sweeping strategic ties that Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan had championed before his death a year ago, officials from both countries will most likely be working on a much narrower set of agreements on core priorities.

These would be countering terrorists, stabilizing Afghanistan and ensuring the safety of Pakistan's arsenal of more than 100 nuclear weapons. Pakistan will want that the new contours spelled out in writing and agreed to in advance.