Islamabad, June 6 (ANI): The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) deal with three key Central Asian countries to evacuate military equipment and vehicles from Afghanistan does not mean that the U.S. has given up on its negotiations with Pakistan, American officials have said.
Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt John Kirby stressed that the U.S. has not given up on its talks with Pakistan on resumption of NATO supply routes.
"No, I would not take the pursuit of this deal and this agreement as any kind of repudiation of the importance of those gates or the larger relationship with Pakistan," The News quoted Kirby, as saying.
He stressed the importance of Shaman and the Torkham Gates in Afghanistan for the flow of coalition traffic.
"We continue to be in discussions with our Pakistani counterparts about trying to get those gates open, and in general trying to improve the relationship with Pakistan at large," Kirby added.
Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said NATO's agreement with Central Asian Republics is to allow two-way transit of non-lethal military equipment in and out of Afghanistan.
"We want to see, obviously, the GLOCs open as soon as possible, but this is a logistically challenging region, so we like that built-in redundancy," Toner said, adding that those negotiations are ongoing. (ANI)
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