<p>As relations between them swing from love to hate, the US today said that "divorce" is not an option between Islamabad and Washington.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"I mean, from our perspective, divorce is not an option with Pakistan," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters, responding to the remarks made by new Pakistani Ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman.<br /><br />Rehman, new to the job in Washington, had said that the "marriage metaphor for instance, never seems to go away, with its implicit embrace of love and hate, life, death and in fact, divorce, which we seek to avoid."<br /><br />The Pakistani envoy was addressing a US think-tank where she described the status of US-Pak relationship.<br /><br />Nuland said the US and Pakistan have strategic interests in common, and they have a lot of work to do together.<br /><br />"We have a national interest in a Pakistan that is increasingly stable, peaceful, free of terror, democratic, et cetera," she said.<br /><br />"So we are continuing to do a lot of work together, and we're looking forward to the completion of Pakistan's internal review of our military-to-military relationship so we can get back to all the important work we have together," Nuland said.<br /><br />The reference to divorce by Nuland prompted one reporter to ask "so, you are just on a break".<br /><br />The spokesperson acknowledged that this is a complicated relationship.<br /><br />"I think I just reacted. I just said that divorce is not an option," she said.<br /><br />Nuland said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been one of the most vocal advocates of switching as much of their economic relationship with Pakistan from aid to trade.<br /><br />"That's been the focus of the Department's efforts with the Pakistani Government over the last couple of years, and some of the internal reviews we've done are focused on that. So we are investing in the economic health and strength of the country," she said.<br /><br />"We are investing in energy. We're investing in education. We are investing in democracy programs and development, so – and micro-lending and all of these kinds of things. So it's not about improving our image. It's about helping to strengthen a stable, peaceful, democratic Pakistan," she said.<br /><br />The spokesperson said the two countries have been increasing people-to-people exchanges over time.<br /><br />"We are very firmly invested, not only with Pakistan, but with countries around the world in trying to have greater exchanges at the high school level, at the university level, at the special interests level," she said.<br /><br />So with regard to Pakistan, we are trying to increase these programs, she added.</p>
<p>As relations between them swing from love to hate, the US today said that "divorce" is not an option between Islamabad and Washington.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"I mean, from our perspective, divorce is not an option with Pakistan," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters, responding to the remarks made by new Pakistani Ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman.<br /><br />Rehman, new to the job in Washington, had said that the "marriage metaphor for instance, never seems to go away, with its implicit embrace of love and hate, life, death and in fact, divorce, which we seek to avoid."<br /><br />The Pakistani envoy was addressing a US think-tank where she described the status of US-Pak relationship.<br /><br />Nuland said the US and Pakistan have strategic interests in common, and they have a lot of work to do together.<br /><br />"We have a national interest in a Pakistan that is increasingly stable, peaceful, free of terror, democratic, et cetera," she said.<br /><br />"So we are continuing to do a lot of work together, and we're looking forward to the completion of Pakistan's internal review of our military-to-military relationship so we can get back to all the important work we have together," Nuland said.<br /><br />The reference to divorce by Nuland prompted one reporter to ask "so, you are just on a break".<br /><br />The spokesperson acknowledged that this is a complicated relationship.<br /><br />"I think I just reacted. I just said that divorce is not an option," she said.<br /><br />Nuland said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been one of the most vocal advocates of switching as much of their economic relationship with Pakistan from aid to trade.<br /><br />"That's been the focus of the Department's efforts with the Pakistani Government over the last couple of years, and some of the internal reviews we've done are focused on that. So we are investing in the economic health and strength of the country," she said.<br /><br />"We are investing in energy. We're investing in education. We are investing in democracy programs and development, so – and micro-lending and all of these kinds of things. So it's not about improving our image. It's about helping to strengthen a stable, peaceful, democratic Pakistan," she said.<br /><br />The spokesperson said the two countries have been increasing people-to-people exchanges over time.<br /><br />"We are very firmly invested, not only with Pakistan, but with countries around the world in trying to have greater exchanges at the high school level, at the university level, at the special interests level," she said.<br /><br />So with regard to Pakistan, we are trying to increase these programs, she added.</p>