‘US not to walk away from Afghanistan and Pakistan’

Standing firm on its long-term commitment for the Af-Pak region, the Obama Administration has said the US will not walk away from Afghanistan and Pakistan because this is not in its national interest. ‘We are talking about how to best carry out that commitment, how we can best serve our interests and those in the region. But I have heard no one say that we are prepared to walk away from Afghanistan or Pakistan or the region, expressly because it is in our interest,’ Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs PJ Crowley told reporters. ‘I have heard no US government official, from the president down to your modest spokesman, say that there’s anything but a long-term commitment to the region and a long-term commitment to Afghanistan and Pakistan,’ Crowley asserted in response to a question. Given the fact that the former Soviet Union left Afghanistan in 1988, leaders from Pakistan and Afghanistan of late have expressed their apprehension that the US may do the same when its objectives in the region to defeat the al Qaeda and the Taliban are achieved. ‘Now, how will we do that best going forward? That is the purpose of these series of meetings and this broad review,’ he said.’ As we have said continually, we’re looking at the situation on the ground, said Crowley.