Washington: In a stern message to Pakistan, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has said that the US would not give out a 'blank cheque' to the country until it fulfills its obligations to go after the terrorist targets.
"We have to show that this is a two-way street, not just a one-way street. They have some obligations," Panetta said in an interview to the NBC News on Monday during his visit to Iraq.
"They've got to help us be able to go after some of the targets we've assigned them; they've got to be able to give us their cooperation," he said.
"And they've got to know that we're not going to give out a blank cheque until they show that this is a two-way relationship," Panetta said when asked about the $ 800 million of military aid to Pakistan being suspended by the United States.
The Defence Secretary said Pakistan has always been a critical country for the US.
"It's always been a difficult relationship that we've had, but the fact is, we need to maintain that relationship. We're fighting a war in their country," he said.
"We're fighting al Qaeda in their country. Strategically, they're an important country, particularly because they have nuclear arms. So for all those reasons,
we've got to maintain the relationship," he said.
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