Many Pakistanis expressed rage over another perceived US attack on the country's sovereignty Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has expressed condolences to Pakistan's prime minister in the wake of a NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani troops and has caused one of the most serious rifts between the two countries in recent years.
In her call with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Clinton "reiterated America's respect for Pakistan's sovereignty and commitment to working together in pursuit of shared objectives on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect," according to a statement released by the state department on Saturday.
"She once again expressed condolences to the families of the soldiers and to the Pakistani people for the tragic and unintended loss of life," the statement said.The incident has sparked rage in Pakistan, where citizens are already angry over their government's perceived obeisance to US interests, especially the wide latitude given to US drone attacks and special operations inside the country.
In response, Pakistan has so far refused to take part in a US probe into the air strikes. It has also shut down a vital NATO supply line into Afghanistan and boycotted an international conference in Bonn focused on how to move forward after the coming US withdrawal.
The government has given military commanders the authority to return fire on the border without first seeking permission, a change in the rules of engagement.
It has also ordered American personnel to leave Shamsi Air Base, widely understood to have been a hub for a covert drone war on Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders in Pakistan's troubled border areas with Afghanistan.
The strike was precipitated by the presence near the Pakistani border of an Afghan-led assault force that included US troops. The force was "hunting militants" and came under fire from a Pakistani military encampment it did not know was there, Reuters has reported.
Thinking the fire came from anti-government fighters, the force called in an air strike, which was reportedly approved by the Pakistani government. Pakistan has denied authorising the strike.
In Bonn, the same city where a similar meeting in 2001 installed current Afghan President Hamid Karzai as the head of Afghanistan's then interim government, dignitaries have already begun arriving and are taking part in preliminary meetings ahead of the summit.
Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, said on Saturday that stability and reconciliation in Afghanistan was in the interests of the international community as well as those in the region.
In attendance in Bonn will be President Karzai and Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, as well as the foreign ministers of several other countries involved in the war.
The transition of Afghanistan to full Afghan control, particularly in terms of security responsibilities but also with respect to its economy, will top the agenda.
Westerwelle said that trying to impose other countries' interests on an Afghan outcome would ultimately be counterproductive.
"Stability and reconciliation in Afghanistan will be a precondition for positive and prosperous development of the whole region. I am deeply convinced that these short-term thoughts, which are discussed in some circles, will not be successful. I think it is not only in the interest of international community, not only in [the interest of] Afghanistan and Afghan people, it is the interest of all the neighbours," he told reporters in Bonn.
"May be some are reluctant. I have to say, if someone would have hidden agenda, it would be counterproductive for their own national interest," he said.
Zalmai Rasoul, the Afghan foreign minister, meanwhile, has appealed for the international community to continue to support his government after the withdrawal of foreign troops, currently scheduled for 2014.
"[The] international community, as far as I know, will not leave us alone. All these partnerships, post-2014, are to reassure the Afghan people that they are going to continue to have the privilege of achievements that we had together. But we are also going to strengthen this partnership in the future," said Rasoul.