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Journalism of Courage
Inspite of having pumped billions of dollars into Pakistan as assistance,US officials have said they see little change in Pakistani’s perception about America.
The trust deficit remains despite several steps taken and aid and assistance given through the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill signed into law last year,US officials said in a testimony before a Congressional committee.
“They (Pakistanis) feel it as a very self-interested relationship,” said Daniel Feldman,Deputy to the Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“The perception of Americans is not a positive one” the official told the lawmakers and continued to attribute this to what they called waxing and waning of American interest based primarily on security and military interest”.
“They don’t believe that we are interested in a longer-term relationship and that’s why so much of our work has been to emphasise that this is a long-term relationship,that it is based on a civilian relationship as well as a security one”,the official said in his testimony.
Feldman told the Congress members that to bridge the trust deficit had been the theme of the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip last fall where she talked about turning the page in building this relationship.
