Trust crucial in US-Pakistan links

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -Pakistan wants to develop and stabilize its relationship with the United States, but Washington needs to do more to build mutual trust in the battle against terrorism, Pakistani officials said.

"The US is a superpower that we can't challenge. But a good relationship is not based on an asymmetric partnership. It should be based on commonalities of interests and heart-to-heart relations, which is now missing in Pakistan-US relations," said Ashraf J. Qazi, director-general of the Institute of Strategic Studies of Pakistan and former Pakistan ambassador to China, the US and India.

Pakistan has a unique geopolitical position that is extremely important to US strategic interests. The relationship is not breaking down and it has to continue as the US is also important to Pakistan, but it can only build up relations with Pakistan on the basis of mutual respect, Qazi said.