"I don't think it's a matter of grievance as much as it is about a matter of building a type of partnership which is lasting, which has the ownership of the people of Pakistan, and ofcourse the parliament of Pakistan," Khar told MSNBC channel in an interview.
The Foreign minister remarks came as the Pakistani Parliament started
examining recommendation on moving forward the Pakistan-U.S. relationship, which the White House sees as critical to regional security. Khar argued that the partnership between the two countries should be able to "achieve results which are considered to be in the joint interest of both Pakistan and the United States and ofcourse the NATO members, which are operating in Afghanistan."
Elaborating the Pakistani perspective, in the wake of incidents last year which damaged the bilateral ties, the foreign minister said the "Salala incident of November 26 in which Pakistan lost 27 of its soldiers to what is considered to be friendly fire, fire coming in from allies.
A fire or a death toll, which is still in some ways, in many minds of Pakistanis, unaccounted for."
"So, I would like you to put yourself in those shoes for a moment and think that if 27 body bags were to return to the United States of America, and your public was told that they lost their lives because Pakistani troops fired on them, what would be the level of hostility in the United States of America? I'm quite sure very high," the foreign minister added.
"So, this was really the brink of continuing with a relationship or a partnership which was increasingly being seen in Pakistan not to be working for Pakistan. And I think here in the Parliament review therefore, we have a unique opportunity to put things correctly",she added.
She said,"What it gives to us in Pakistan and to you in the United States of America is an opportunity to put this partnership on a track which is more lasting, which has the ownership of the people. And in that, what we have to be careful about is that we are married to the end objective of fighting militants, extremism in this part of the world."
Hina Rabbani Khar also underlined the crucial importance of respect
for Pakistani sovereignty for the relationship to be effective.
"However, if we are too married or too attached to some tools which are considered to be violative of Pakistan's sovereignty, Pakistan's territorial integrity, and the whole spirit of partnership, then I'm afraid we will not be able to meet the type of success that we want to meet in the future."
Pakistan, she siad, has repeatedly said that al-Qaeda chief Osama bin
Laden, who was killed in a U.S. operation in Abbottabad, was an enemy for Pakistan.
In this context, she drew attention to the fact that the Pakistani intelligence, Pakistani military have hunted down more al Qaeda operatives than anywhere else in the world. "So, al Qaeda happens to be an enemy for Pakistan. There is no denying that."
"However, again, as I mentioned, a joint approach, a joint operation, would have obviously been much more useful to carry on the partnership and to carry on efforts to be able to achieve what I am calling common objectives. And I think that is what is important: to look at this as a common objective.
The Foreign minister said,"To look at us moving towards a common goal because at the strategic plane, I think the United States and Pakistan agree on what are their goals and objectives. Where we have differences, which have become apparent in the past few months, is as to what are the tools that should be used to be able to achieve those end objectives."
"And it is not working, one, without ownership of the people of any country, of any place. You can see that in the United States also. When you go to war in a country you have to have ownership of the people of your country to be -- because war is costly, as it has been for Pakistan."
Pakistan has had losses, colossal, economically, close to $60 billion, and colossal, in terms of human life, 30,000 civilians dead; 10,000 paramilitary and military forces together dead, she pointed out.
"All of these and loss to Pakistan's society, to Pakistan's way of life, has been colossal."
"Now, with that, with those losses, we have to make sure that this is not seen to be our participation in what is considered to be an international effort.
It is not seen to be an effort which is in the unilateral interests of the United States, but it's seen to be an effort which is in the mutual interest of the United States and Pakistan.
And for that, it is of course extremely important to be able to build that broad ownership that is required for any country to be able to be an effective partner."