Pak Army chief aware of political challenges: Admiral Mullen
30 Aug 2008, 1244 Hrs

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Washington, Aug 30 (ANI): Chairman, US Joint Chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen has said that there is recognition in Washington and in Pakistan that the current political process is 'pretty challenging'.

Briefing the media about a secret meeting between American and Pakistani generals aboard an American aircraft carrier, Admiral " when I first met General Kayani, it was a couple of weeks before the first election, and now there's another election, having had a president resign. So obviously there is a significant amount of political churn in Pakistan that he's very much aware of."

When Admiral Mullen was asked whether General Kayani's goal for Pakistan matched with the US goal, he said: "He (General Kayani) knows his country better than we. And again, I just think that's where he is, that's where he'll stay."

The Dawn quoted him as saying that Pakistan was an important ally in a very critical and increasingly unstable part of the world and having that relationship is really what it's all about it."

"The military-to-military engagement with Pakistan is like any other country. And since that's the relationship that we are continuing to work on, evolve," he added.

He also acknowledged that the right way to engage Pakistan is through their newly elected leadership and there were other people in the US government who would be the right ones to deal with Pakistan on the political side.

Asked if the removal of President Musharraf would hurt US interests in Pakistan, Admiral Mullen said: "I think we need to move ahead. President Musharraf's made a decision. He's moved on. I think we all need to move on and look to a future that we both understand." (ANI)