Pak-U.S. ties paralyzed after leaders, military fail to break NATO route opening logjam

Islamabad, May 3 (ANI): Pakistan's top political and military leadership is in a fix on how to repair troubled ties with the U.S. after Washington's reluctance to apologise over last year's Salala attacks, and halting drone strikes.

The civilian and military leaders met for a third time, in two weeks, but crucial decisions, including reopening of land routes for NATO supplies and attending a NATO summit in Chicago later this month, were deferred, reports The Express Tribune.

"The situation is as it was two weeks ago...there isn't any change on both sides," said a participant of Wednesday's meeting presided over by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ISI's Director General Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam, key federal ministers and Pakistan's Ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman attended the meeting.

The meeting took place a day after the U.S. and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership deal that would allow Americans to maintain military presence in the war-torn country beyond 2014, even after the completion of the combat mission.

President Barack Obama flew into Kabul on Tuesday night, on an unscheduled trip, to meet his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai.

According to sources, Washington had not only invited Islamabad to attend the NATO summit scheduled for May 20 - 21 in Chicago, but also offered to host a trilateral summit of US-Pak-Afghan leaders on the sidelines.

Last week, a US delegation headed by Envoy Marc Grossman, returned to Washington without any progress after both sides refused to step back from their positions.

Islamabad wanted Washington to apologise over the Salala attack and give firm guarantees that the drone campaign would be called off. After Wednesday's meeting, it appears that Pakistan is not ready to soften its position on both issues, and the deadlock might persist for some more time. (ANI)