President Obama to seek easing of strains with PM Gilani

SEOUL: The White House made clear on Monday that President Barack Obama would seek to put strained relations with Pakistan on a more even footing when he meets
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the end of a nuclear security summit in Seoul.

The meeting on Tuesday will be the highest-level contact between the uneasy allies since US commandos killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad in May last year, a raid Pakistan called a violation of its sovereignty.

Ties plunged to a new low in November when aircraft from NATO's Afghanistan force attacked two Pakistani border posts and killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

"There obviously has been a fairly turbulent period in US-Pakistan relations over the course of the last several months," U.S. deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told
reporters in Seoul on Monday.

"We'll want to address the state of the relationship."

He said Obama would assure Gilani of "our continued interest in counter-terrorism cooperation" with Pakistan and stress shared interests in stabilizing neighboring Afghanistan.

The Pakistani leader would bring up a parliamentary review that has been drawing up recommendations on how to proceed on ties with Washington, Rhodes said.

Pakistan's cooperation is considered critical to US efforts to stabilise Afghanistan before most foreign combat troops leave at the end of 2014.

Adding to tension, however, a US military official said on Saturday there were no plans to discipline any American forces over the deadly cross-border strike on Nov. 26 that plunged
relations into crisis.