US 'anxiously watching' Pak developments

The United States is 'anxiously watching' how the emerging political powers in Pakistan deal with the situation in tribal areas especially in the border with Afghanistan, a top Pentagon official has said.

Admiral William Fallon, Commander of the Central Command, told the House Armed Services Committee that Washington is ready to extend assistance to the Pakistani military with a view to making it 'more effective and more competent'.

"Pakistan, across the border, has been a troubled country with a series of stability issues for the duration of its existence. There's a political process that's in progress now. We are anxiously watching how they deal with this situation," Admiral Fallon told the committee while defending the outlays for the Central Command.

"The reality of life is that the... tribal overlay covers both countries (Pakistan and Afghanistan) and we just have to deal with the whole picture. We've been getting a lot of help in Pakistan," he said.

"We certainly intend to make ourselves available and to help them. We have given strong assurances to the PACMIL that we will do everything we can to assist them to make them more effective and more competent," he said.

"They are helping us immensely along the border with Afghanistan. That is one of the reasons that the level of attack is way down in eastern provinces. Though, there's a lot more that needs to be done," he added.