NYT.COM
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Pakistan on Friday in what officials described as an effort to measure Pakistan’s commitment to fighting Islamic extremism after the killing of Osama bin Laden badly strained relations with the United States. It did not appear to go well.
The atmosphere of her initial meetings — visibly frosty — underscored the tensions between the two countries, which have threatened to lurch into open confrontation since Navy Seals found and killed Bin Laden on May 2 in a military garrison town only 35 miles from here. Mrs. Clinton, the highest ranking American official to visit Pakistan, was joined by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, who arrived separately as part of a carefully orchestrated diplomatic encounter.
In contrast to the usual diplomatic pleasantries, however, Mrs. Clinton and Admiral Mullen appeared awkward and unsmiling at a meeting in the presidential palace with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and the chief of the Army, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
Otherwise the officials did not appear together or make a joint statement, and Mr. Zardari’s office limited access of journalists traveling with Mrs. Clinton even to the photo opportunity and did not allow it to be recorded.
In brief remarks directed at Mr. Zardari, Mrs. Clinton said the Obama administration recognized “the sacrifice that is made every single day by the men and women of your military and the citizens of your country,” according to a video of the encounter. Mr. Zardari’s response was inaudible because his staff had barred microphones.
Mrs. Clinton and Admiral Mullen appeared later at the American Embassy with no Pakistanis present and addressed the stress in the relationship. She joked about tense opening of the talks but made it clear in her remarks that the conversations were sharp.
“There is always a lot to talk about but this was an especially important meeting because we have reached a turning point. Osama bin Laden is dead but Al Qaeda and its syndicate of terror remain a threat to us both,” Mrs. Clinton said. She said the Pakistanis had agreed on “some very specific actions” they will take alone and with the United States but she did not elaborate.
“We both recognize that there is still much more work required and it is urgent,” she said.
Mrs. Clinton and Admiral Mullen referred to the recent strains but emphasized that Friday’s talks were frank and constructive. Admiral Mullen acknowledged that trust between the two nations’ militaries “still needs to be rebuilt” but said it was in the interest of both countries to work together.
“Now is not the time for retreat or for recrimination. Now is the time for action and closer cooperation, not less,” he said.
Mrs. Clinton and other officials have said there was no evidence that Pakistan’s senior civilian and military leaders knew Bin Laden was hiding for years in Abbottobad, the garrison town north of here. But they have vowed to press Pakistan to investigate whether any other lower-level officials were complicit in his ability to elude detection and for reassurances of a shared commitment to fighting extremist groups resident in Pakistan.
“We do have a set of expectations that we are looking for the Pakistani government to meet,” Mrs. Clinton said in Paris on Thursday before flying here overnight. When pressed, she added that those expectations involved issues “across the board.”
Mrs. Clinton postponed a visit to Pakistan earlier this month as the Obama administration gauged Pakistan’s reactions to the raid, which a senior administration official traveling with her noted created “a real risk of precipitous action.” Her visit with Admiral Mullen was unannounced because of security concerns, and lasted only a matter of hours.
In addition to a flurry of anti-American statements from senior government officials, Pakistan has taken deliberate steps to undercut security cooperation since Bin Laden’s death. Those steps included leaking the name of the station chief of the Central Intelligence Agency here and asking the Pentagon to withdraw some of the military advisers who have worked with the country’s security forces for years.
At the same time, though, the Pakistanis agreed to allow the C.I.A. to scour the walled compound where Bin Laden hid and to interview the wives who lived there with him. The military also returned the wreckage of the helicopter that the Seals destroyed after it crashed during the raid. “We’ve had some positive actions,” a second senior administration aboard the secretary’s plane said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Mrs. Clinton clearly hoped the meeting would be a step toward mending the relationship. In Paris on Thursday, she stressed the enduring importance of close cooperation with the Pakistanis in the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. She said it was in the national interest of the United States to have “a comprehensive, long-term partnership” with Pakistan.
“There have been times we’ve had disagreements; there have been times when we’ve wanted them to push harder and for various reasons they have not,” she said at a news conference in Paris.
“Those differences are real,” she went on. “They will continue. But the fact of the matter is the international community has been able to kill more terrorists on Pakistani soil than any other place in the world. We could not have done that without Pakistani cooperation.”
The raid that killed Bin Laden, however, was so secretive that American officials did not notify Pakistan’s leaders in advance, which many in Pakistan have viewed as an affront to the country’s sovereignty and pride.
“They had no idea we could or we would do what we did,” the second senior administration official said. “That has changed their perspective in ways that we’re still evaluating and they’re still trying to come to grips with.”
The political fury over the raid has lingered in both countries.
Lawmakers here have called for a re-evaluation of ties with the United States, even as legislators in Washington — and some administration officials — have called for reconsidering the billions of dollars in economic and security aid the United States has given Pakistan annually since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“There are a lot of important choices that have to be made,” another administration official said. “The Pakistanis really have to make decisions themselves about what kind of country they want to live in.”
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