Gates, Mullen stress importance of US-Pak ties

WASHINGTON: Defence Secretary Robert Gates and the nation's top military officer said on Thursday that it was critical for the United States to maintain ties with Pakistan.

"The long history of the US-Pakistani relationship has had its ebbs and flows," Gates said, but then added, "We need each other, and we need each other more than just in the context of Afghanistan."

Admiral Mullen warned about the perils of abandoning Pakistan. "Were we to walk away, I think it's a matter of time before the region is that much more dangerous, and there would be a huge pull for us to have to return to protect our national interests," he said.

The news conference was the last one for Gates as secretary of defence, a job he has held since 2006 and is to leave on June 30. He said little about the main issue facing him as he exits, the number of American troops to leave Afghanistan next month under a withdrawal schedule ordered by President Obama. Gates also declined to say that the United States was "winning" the war, despite recent military gains.

"I have learned a few things in four and a half years, and one of them is to try to stay away from loaded words like 'winning' and 'losing,' " Gates said. But he did say that "our military operations are being successful in denying the Taliban control of populated areas, degrading their capabilities and improving the capabilities of the Afghan national security forces."