{"id":18955,"date":"2018-01-15T17:18:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T17:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/15\/dunford-committed-to-relationship-with-pakistan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:45:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:45:41","slug":"dunford-committed-to-relationship-with-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/asia-pacific\/2018\/01\/15\/dunford-committed-to-relationship-with-pakistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Dunford on the US-Pakistan relations: \u2018I\u2019m not giving up\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BRUSSELS \u2013 With relations strained between Pakistan and the United States<\/a>, the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is hopeful that military relationships can bridge any political divide between Washington and Islamabad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m committed to try to improve the relationship, and I do believe a military-to-military dialogue led by [Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command] with occasional reinforcement by [Secretary of Defense Jim] Mattis, myself and others is the right approach,\u201d said Gen. Joe Dunford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo we agree on everything right now? No, we don\u2019t. But are we committed to [a] more effective relationship with Pakistan? We are, and I\u2019m not giving up on that,\u201d Dunford told reporters during a trip to NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relations with Pakistan took a hit in early January as the Trump administration announced it would be withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance funding over what it calls Pakistan\u2019s failure to curb militant groups along the border with Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\t