Pakistan to reopen key supply route to Afghanistan, after US apology

'We are sorry,' Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said about a December attack near the Afghanistan border that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. That sticking point resolved, a key supply route will reopen, but US-Pakistan ties are weaker now.

By Howard LaFranchi,?Staff writer / July 3, 2012

Oil tankers, which were used to transport NATO fuel supplies to Afghanistan, are parked, in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday. The Obama administration said Tuesday that Pakistan was reopening its supply lines into Afghanistan, after the US belatedly issued an apology for the November killing of 24 Pakistani troops in a NATO airstrike.

Shakil Adil/AP

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The United States relented and formally apologized to Pakistan Tuesday for a border incident seven months ago in which 24 Pakistani soldiers died ? paving the way for a reopening of critical supply routes for the war in Afghanistan.

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton issued a carefully worded statement Tuesday morning that was direct in its apology for the December attack by US helicopters on a Pakistani border outpost, and effusive in its praise of Pakistani leaders and their cooperation with the US.

?We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military,? Secretary Clinton said, using the S-word that President Obama had until now refused to use over the incident, as Pakistan had demanded. Before Tuesday, the US had gone only so far as to ?regret? the loss of life.

Clinton went on to say that ?we are committed to working closely with Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again,? before concluding with ?our deep appreciation to the Government and the people of Pakistan for their many sacrifices and their critical contribution to the ongoing fight against terrorism and extremism.?

The US apology resolved one of the touchiest disputes between the two countries in what has lately been a testy relationship. But it remains to be seen if the new tone signaled in Clinton?s statement carries over into real improvement in relations.

Some Pakistan analysts were quick to warn that the apology and resulting reopening of Pakistan?s border to NATO supplies into Afghanistan would of themselves do little to improve relations or prospects for security in Afghanistan.

?Merely re-opening the supply routes will not help the US achieve its objectives in Afghanistan because it does not address the fundamental problem of continuing Pakistani support for the Taliban and Haqqani network that are killing US and coalition forces on a daily basis in Afghanistan,? says Lisa Curtis, a South Asia expert at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. ?Pakistan?has never explained ? let alone apologized ? for its lack of action against the enemies of the?US?that find sanctuary on its soil,??she says.

Pakistan immediately closed its borders to the transport of NATO supplies into Afghanistan after the Nov. 26 border attack, costing the US and its NATO allies hundreds of millions of dollars in higher transport outlays for more expensive routes and transport methods.

Pentagon officials estimate that the Pakistan land routes into Afghanistan carried about half of all supplies for the Afghan war effort, at about one-tenth the cost of air transport. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in congressional testimony in June that using costlier routes (the so-called northern route through Russia and Central Asian countries to Europe) and relying more on air transport was costing the US and its partners in Afghanistan $100 million a month.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Hlf3hWDVkeY/Pakistan-to-reopen-key-supply-route-to-Afghanistan-after-US-apology

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