Pakistani mistrust of Americans legitimate, says Gates

WASHINGTON: The Pakistani mistrust over US intentions has 'some legitimacy' since the United States has walked away from that country twice in the last three decades, says US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

'There seems to be, more than I think any of us would have expected six months ago, broad political support for what the Pakistani military is doing in the west,' said Robert Gates. - AP/File photo

At a briefing at the Pentagon on Thursday afternoon, Mr Gates conceded that the US needed time to 'rebuild trust' with the Pakistani people and to convince them 'that we are a long-term friend and ally.'

Mr Gates described as disturbing, but not surprising, the results of a survey that only 9 per cent of Pakistanis saw the United States as a partner while 64 per cent looked at it as an enemy.

'First of all, one of the reasons that the Pakistanis have concerns about us is that we walked away from them twice,' Mr Gates said. 'We walked away from them after the Soviets left Afghanistan, and we walked away from them through the 1990s, because of the Pressler amendment.'

Because of such policy changes, Mr Gates said, 'our military-to-military relations were significantly interrupted'.

Further commenting on the opinion survey, the US defence secretary observed: 'The Pakistanis probably - and with some legitimacy -question how long are we prepared to stay there? Is the only reason we're interested in working with the Pakistanis is the war in Afghanistan? Or do we value Pakistan as a partner and an ally independent of the war in Afghanistan?'

Mr Gates then assured the Pakistani people that 'the latter is the case' and that the US had a long-term commitment to their country. 'And I think that the bills on the Hill (the US Congress), to provide multi-year economic assistance to Pakistan, manifest that.'

The US Congress is studying two separate bills to triple US economic assistance to Pakistan, to $1.5 billion a year, and to establish duty-free export zones along the Pak-Afghan border.

Mr Gates noted that after the Sept 11 terrorists attacks in the US the two countries had developed a close relationship and hoped to further strengthen it.

The poll, released on Thursday by the Pew Research Centre, found that only 16 per cent of Pakistanis had a favourable view of the United States.

Thirteen per cent said they had confidence in President Barack Obama, a stark contrast to his overwhelming popularity in much of the rest of the world. But more than half said improved relations between Pakistan and the United States were important.

The survey also found that Pakistani views of Al Qaeda and the Taliban had shifted markedly since last year, with unfavourable opinions doubling to two-thirds of about 1,200 adults questioned.

Mr Gates pointed out that the shift was 'more meaningful' than their negative views about the United States.

'There seems to be, more than I think any of us would have expected six months ago, broad political support for what the Pakistani military is doing in the west,' he said.