<p>Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan used his detention and quizzing by American authorities in Toronto for political mileage, US Deputy Chief of Mission in Pakistan, Richard Hoagland, has said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"A lot of the story that went out was not very accurate but played up for political purposes," Hoagland told journalists in Peshawar yesterday.<br /><br />In principle, nobody is ever stopped from entering the US for their political beliefs, he said.<br />Some reports in the Pakistani media have said that Khan, the chief of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party, was quizzed by the American officials as his US visa did not permit him to engage in fund-raising activities, which was apparently one of the main reasons of his visit to the US.<br /><br />Khan was also questioned about his opposition to US drone strikes, the reports said.<br />Hoagland said countering terrorism is "most important" in US-Pakistan relations.<br />"The sooner we contain terrorists, the more peaceful the methods (of counter-terrorism) will become," he said.<br /><br />The "strategic pause", an interregnum in the difficult relationship between the two countries, was now making way for a "more mature but restrained relationship" based on diplomatic, military and intelligence cooperation, he said.<br /><br />Hoagland further said that no matter who won the US presidential polls, there would be "no pendulum swing in foreign policy."</p>
<p>Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan used his detention and quizzing by American authorities in Toronto for political mileage, US Deputy Chief of Mission in Pakistan, Richard Hoagland, has said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"A lot of the story that went out was not very accurate but played up for political purposes," Hoagland told journalists in Peshawar yesterday.<br /><br />In principle, nobody is ever stopped from entering the US for their political beliefs, he said.<br />Some reports in the Pakistani media have said that Khan, the chief of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party, was quizzed by the American officials as his US visa did not permit him to engage in fund-raising activities, which was apparently one of the main reasons of his visit to the US.<br /><br />Khan was also questioned about his opposition to US drone strikes, the reports said.<br />Hoagland said countering terrorism is "most important" in US-Pakistan relations.<br />"The sooner we contain terrorists, the more peaceful the methods (of counter-terrorism) will become," he said.<br /><br />The "strategic pause", an interregnum in the difficult relationship between the two countries, was now making way for a "more mature but restrained relationship" based on diplomatic, military and intelligence cooperation, he said.<br /><br />Hoagland further said that no matter who won the US presidential polls, there would be "no pendulum swing in foreign policy."</p>